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atjhttp : //books . qooqle . com/

-£

3rtt0l& 9lrl)orrtuni ILibrarg

/Qi

^jgpr

THE GIFT OF

FRANCIS SKINNER

OF DEDHAM

IN MEMORY OF

FRANCIS SKINNER

(H. C. 1862)

Received J0i^c. i J ! 4 .

the A

Litized by G00gle

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gie

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if ■

NEW

FAMILY HERBAL:

POPULAR ACCOUNT

THE NATURES AND PROPERTIES

OF THE VARIOUS

. PLANTS

USED IN

MEDICINE, DIET, and the ARTS-

, ROBERT JOHN THORNTON, M.D.

JLKCTURER ON BOTANY AT GUY'8 HOSPITAL, &C. &C

THE PLANTS DRAWN FROM NATURE,
BY HENDERSON:

AND ENGRAVED ON WOOD,

BY THOMAS BEWICK.

ioiUwn:

PRINTED FOR RICHARD PHILLIPS,

BRIDGE-STREET, BLACKFRIARS;
AVO MAT BE BAD OF ALL BOOJUELLBftt.

1810.

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To ANDREW DUNCAN, M.D.

Dear Profes3or,

The University of Edinburgh, of which you we
-* distinguished member, like the city of Tbebei
during the life of Epaminondas, bus emerged from
obscurity into a splendour unparalleled in literary
history, and has spread its fame by a glorious suc-
cession of men of the highest eminence in Science
-*nd general Literature.

The names of Movro, Colleh, Black, Ru-
therford* Hope, that of your illustrious father,
and your own, will be inscribed in the records of
acience to the remotest posterity, and future ages
will admire those labours which have advanced tbe
honour of the healing art, and thereby been the means
of saving more than the sword has destroyed.

When we examine tbe state of medical know-
ledge before this epoch, we find nothing that can
compensate for the labour of reading volumes, qow

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justly doomed to moulder on the shelf. Pharmacy
in particular was a jumble of the most heteroge-
neous compounds. ^ Your father's, and then your
own Pharmacopoeia* formed after hid model, ap-
peared, and all became clearness and precision.
Herbals especially, as parts of the Pharmacopoeia,
were at this period a disgrace to medicine, and
highly dangerous to the community.
, A desire to become acquainted with the virtues
of Plants seems to have been coeval with the first
dawn of knowledge ; but the figures contained in
the books treating of these subjects are so inac-
curate, and the descriptions so vague, credulous,
and, in every sense, so gross and vulgar, that mis-
takes were unavoidable, and false properties wert
bestowed on the most common and trivial Plants.

The Medical Botany of the ingenious and able
Woodville cleared much rubbish from this Au-
gaean stable, but the expensive mode of its publica-
tion deterred many practitioners, and families in
general, from the purchase ; there was, therefore,
wanted for general and ordinary use a companion to
your useful and perfect Pharmacopoeia. Nothing
more was required than simply to tread in your foot-
steps, adding Figures by such an Artist as Bewick,
and correct Descriptions, with the addition of some
general Prescriptions, combining at the same time

* The Edinburgh New Dispensatory, by Da. Andrew
Duncan.

y Google

VII

from all authors whatever related to the subjedt*
This could not be accomplished in a Pharmaco-
poeia; the present Work, therefore, is presented . to.
the world as a more complete and perfect Herbal
than has hitherto appeared; and as intended to unite
the various advantages that have been derived to
science from jour " Edinburgh New Dispensatory."
1 take this opportunity, therefore, to acknowledge
the source of much of my information, which I
would not, indeed, disfigure by a change of words,
but have generally transcribed from your work, so
that considerable part of the merit which may be
found in this Herbal must in justice be ascribed
to your industry and intelligence; and I hope,
and trust, that the very superior Engravings of
Bxwicx will render it in every respect a useful in-
troduction to Pharmaceutical Science.
* I have necessarily had .frequent occasion to de*
scribe the culinary properties of many vegetables,
apd on this subject my obligations have been consi-
derable to the best book on this art, namely, that
by Duncan Macdonald.

. It is presumed that the reader will here find, for
the first time, many valuable properties of Plants
ascertained, which are either wholly n^w, or have
hitherto been locked up in large, expensive, and in-
accessible works of British growth, or in scarce
books on Botany published in foreign countries.
Whatever may be the merits or defects of this.

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Tin

New Herbal, they are now before the public j for
myself, I shall honestly declare that, if it tend to
advance the Sciences of Medicine and Botany, and
is honoured with yout approbation, I shall enjoy
the fall reward of my labours.

I have the honour to be, Sir,
With perfect respect and esteem,
Your obliged and devoted Servant,

Robert John TponwroH*

HificUstreet, Minchestor-squarc,
January 1, 1810*

N.B. Those persons' who desire to possess a com*
plete and familiar Introduction to the Science qf Bo-
tany, will find one in the " Grammar of Botant,"
just published, a work written expressly, by the Author
qf this Herbal, for the use qf botanical and medical
Students.

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ALPHABETICAL

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

EagUsbHaae.

Agrimony, Common

Alkanet

Almond Tree

Allspice

Anife ....

Aromatic Melaleuca

Artichoke - - -

Arum, Common

Asarabacca, Common

Ash, Flowering

Atb-coloured Liverwort

Avens, Common

Balm, Common

Balsam of Gilead • -

Balsam of Tola Tree

Barberry ...

Barley

Basil, Common

Bastard Cabbage Tree

Bastard Dittany

Bear Berry ...

Benjamin, or Benzoin Tree

Bitter Cucumber - '.

Bitter Quassia

Black Currant

Black Hellebore, or>
Christmas Rose $

Black Mustard, Common

Black Pepper

Blue Cardinal flower -

feooktime ...

Broom, Common - •

Bnckbean ...

Buckthorn - -

Latin Name.

Auchusa Tinctoria
Amygdalus Communis
Myrtus pimenta ' -
Pirapinella Anisum
Melaleuca Leucadendron
Cynara Scolymus - -
Arum Maculatum - •
A varum Europccom -
Fratious

Lichen Canintti - -
Geura Urbanum " -
Melissa Officinalis - -
Anyris Gileadensis -
Toluifera Balsamum
Barberis Vulgaris -"
Hordeum Distichon
Clinopodium Vulgar*
Geoftroea Inermis -
Dictamnus A lb us -
Arbutus UvaUrsi -
Styrax Benzoins -
Cucumis Coiocynthis
Quassia Amara
Bibes Nigrum

Heleborus Niger •

Sinapis Nigra
Piper Nigrum
Lobela Siphilktica
Yeroaica Becabunga
Spartium Scoparium
Menyanthes Trifoliata
Bhamnus Catharticus

6rdei
1
1
1
1
3

Class.
XI.
V.

xii.
xii.

xviii. 4

- xix. 1

• XX,

- xl
. xxiii.

- xxiv.
. xif.

- xiv.

- vuL

- vi.
iii.
xiv,

- xvii.

• x..

• X.

1
,2

*
5
1

1
1

3
I

4
1
1
1

Xxi. 10
1

*
3
6

1
3
1
1

xiii.

XT.

ii.

xix.

ii.

xvii.

£ag«*

,470
94
471
470
305
67*
674
756
46*
8?I
884
50*
58d
37*
43G
359
64
587
631
43*
451
440
81*
447
155

554

614
30

7*6
21

651
9*

149

Digitized by

Google

English Name.
Buglott, Common
Burdock
Butchery Broom
Cajeput Tree - ,
Calamint

Camomile, Common
Camomile, Spanish -
famphor Tree
Caper Bush, Common
Caraway*
Cardamon .
Cascarilla
Catechu Mimosa
£haste T^ree
Chinese Srailax
Cherry Laurel. -
Chian, or Cyprus
Cinnamon Tree -
£inquefoiI, Common
Cleavers, -
Climbing Birthwort
CJove Pink - •
Clove Tree - -
Coffee Tree
Coltsfoot - -
Common Great Plantain
Cootrayerva -
Copaiva JTree
Coriande^ - >
Corn Poppy
Cowbage
Crack - -

Creeping feugte - -" -
Creeping Water Parsnip
Cfetan Cbtua - - - - -
Giickow f loner — r
Cultivated Garlic, Com- *

mon „ - J

Cultivated Oat - -
Oamask^tose
Dandelion -

CONTENTS.

Latin Name.

CUm. <

Order.

p.f

tforago Officinalis - -

167

Arctium Lappa

XIX.

678

, Ruscus Aculeatus - -

xrfl.

855

MelaleucaLeucadendron

xviii

672

Thymus Calarainta

xiv.

579

Anthem is Nobilis - -

xix.

717

Anthemis Pyrethrum

xix.

720

Laurus C amphora - -

ix.

381

Capparis Spinosa - -

xiii.

545

Carum Carui

302

Amomum Cardamomum

1 i.

Clutia Eluteria

xxii.

840

Mimosa Catichu - -

xxiiL 1

86$

Vitex Agnus Castus

xiv.

. j?.8&

Smilax China - ,. -

xxii.

6 ,

840

Prunus Lauro Cerassus

xii.

485

Pistacia Terebinlhus -

xxii.

837

Laurus Cinnaraomum

ix.

*J95

JPotentilla Reptans

xii.

505

Galium Apaine - -

iv.

Aristp lochia Clematitis

XX.

748

Dianthus Caryophylus

459

Caryqphylus Aromaticus

xiii.

537

Coifea Arabica

198

Tussilago Farfara 7 -

xix*

710

Plantago Major - -

IF.

Dorsetnia Contrayerva

it. -

Copaifera Officinalis -

438

Coriandrura

29f

Papaver Rhsas

xiii.

534

DoUchos Pruriens

xvii.

634

Salix Fragilis

xxii.

829

Ajuga" ttfeptans - ,-

xiv.

S*5

Skim Aodiflorum - -

Cistus Creticus

xiii,

$39

Cardimine Pratensis * -

XV*

619

Allium Sativum - *-

*i.

94d

Avena Sativa

iii.

Rosa Ccntifolia

xii.

498

Loontodf n Taraxacum

Xix.

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Dead!/ Nightshade -
Dittany of Crete * -
Dog Rom

Pagon's Blood Tree
pwarf Elder - " -
pjert Bugloss - - -
Dyers Madder
- JS^yptian Mimosa - •
Elder

EJecampane
Elm, Common
Elm-leaved Sumach
Eringo-Ieaved Lichen -
European Olivp
Syebrigbt, Common -

Fenugreek -

Fig-tree, Common
Fine-leaved Water >
Hemlock - f
Florentine Iris
Flax

fetid Helebore
Foxglove «. v .
Fumitory, Common
Garden Carrot
Garden Thyme, Common
Gigantic Fennel - .
Ginseng ' .
Goats Thorp
Goose Grass

Great Broad-leaved \
Mullein - 5

Greater Bistort - .

Greater Celandine - -

Ground Ivy -

Grounseli, Common

Guinea Pepper

Harts'-Tongne

Hedge Hyssop

tfedge Mustard -

PPNTENTS.

Latin Name.

- Atropa Belladonna - -

- Origanum Dictamnus -

- Rosa Canina

• Calamus Rotang - .

- Sambucas Ebulus - -
Auchusa Tinctoria - .
Kubia Tiiictorum - -
Mimosa Xiiotica -
Sambucui Nigra .
Inula Heleneium - -
Ulmus Campestris - -
Rhus Coriaria

Lichen Islandicus .

Olea F.ijrposea

Euphrasia Officinalis -

( Trfconelle Foenum l
( Graxum - J

Firus Carica
PhellandriuroAquaticwa
Iris Florentiua
Lintum Usifatissimum -
Ilelleborus Fcetidus -
Digitalis ...
Fumaria Officinalis
Daucus Sativa
Thymus Vulgaris - -
Ferula AssafcBtida *
Panax Quinque folium
Astragalus Tragacanthia
Galium Apartne -

Verbascum thapsus -

Polygonum Bistorta -
Chelidonium Majus . -
Glecoma Hejteracea -
Lithospemum Officinale
Capsicum Annum ? -
Asplenium Scolopendrum
Gratiola Officinalis
Erysimum Officinale - "
b2

CIms. Oftfe*-. P»go.
v. 1 176
xiv. f
xii. 5
vi. 1

V.
IV.

XXIII. 1

v. 3

xix. 2

v. 2

v. 3
xxiv.2

ii. 1

xiv. £

xxui.3
Y. 2

HI.
V.

xiii.

xiv.

xvit

xiv.

xxiii.0
xvij. S
iv. 1

V. 1

viii. 3

xiiu 1

xiv. ]

v. l

v. 1

xxiii. l

ii. 1

xv. 2

$00

354

327

862

71$
2\\

835

58«

xvii. 3 6B&

87$

310

i
43
331
557
596
G21
184

bib

8*4

654

237

540

at*

10
144
•8
S3
619

Digitized by VjOOQlC

xii

English Name.

Hemlock, Common
Pemlock, Water-Drop)
Wort - - $

CONTENTS.

L»tia Name.

Coaium Maculatura
CEnantne Crocata

CUw. Order.
V. 2

Henbane -

Holy Tbulle

Holly

Hop - - -

florehound, Common •

Hone Chesnut

Hone Radish

Indian Cress, Greater -

Indian Pink

Indian Rubber

Inula* Common

Ipecacuan -

Jalap Bindweed

Juniper - - -

Ladies Smock, Common

laurel-leaved Canada

JLemon .

Lavender -

Liquorice, Common -

Logwood . - - .

, Long-rooted Birthwort -

Long-rooted Turmeric -

Lovage-leaved Bubon -
Lungwort, Common - •
Lycian Juniper - - -
liahogany Tree - -
Male Fern - - -
If asterwort, Common -
Mastich Tree
Mak Orchis - -
Mandrake - - -
Marsbmallow
Meadow Anemony, or
Ptsque Flower -

Meadow Saffron. Com
won t

xix.

xxi.
xiv.

Vlll.
T.

xxi

xix..

xix.

Hyoscyamus Niger
Centaurea Benedkta
Erynguim Maritimum
Humulus Lupulus -
Marrubium Vulgare
iKsculusHipjocastanum vi.
Cochlearia Arraoracea xv.
Tropopolum Majus

Spigelia Marilandica *

Siphonia Elestica - ■
Inuls. Heleniura - -

Viola Ipecacuanha - -

Convolvulus Jalopa

Juniperus Communis •

Cardamine Pratensis

Canella Alba

Citrus Medica - -

Lavandula Spica .

Glycyrrbiza Glabia -

{Hoematoxylum Cam
pechianwm
Aristolochia Longa

(Turmeric, L.P.Cur-
\ cuma longa, P. L.
Bubon Galbanum
Polmonaria Officinalis
Juniperus Lycia
Swietauia Mahagoni
Poly podium Tulgare
Imperatoria Ostrutbiam
Pistacia Lentiscus
Orchis Mascula -
Atrossa Mandragora -
AHbea Officinalis '

1
3
2
5
1
1
1
1
I
9
2
6
1
xxii.12
xv. 2
xi. 1
xviii. 3
xiv. 1
xvii

V.
V.

xxli. 12
x. 1
xxiv. 1

xxii.

XX.
T.

xri.

2
5

1
1
9

Fagf*

317

313

181
724
280
814
573
367
612
377
102
868
712
732
110
845
619
464
661
582
647

454

746

290
161
849
457
878
298
83$
740
173
625

1 Anemone Pratensis - xiii. 6 560
*™'l Cokhkum Autumnale tL 3

361

Digitized by

Google

CONTENTS.

fenf luh Nam*.

Mezeroa •

Milk Vetch

Milkwort -

Misletoe

Mother of Thyme - -

Mountaiu Arnica

Mugwort -

Mulberry, Common

Narrow-leaved Ginger -

Nettle, Common - -

Norway Sprnce Fir Tree

Nutmeg Tree

Oak, Common

Officinal Bugloas

Officinal Guaiacum

Officinal Squill

Officinal Storaz

Officinal Swallow-wort -

Officinal Valerian, E. P.

Orange •

Palma Cbristi, Common

Palmated Larkipur

Pantie - - .

Pareine Brava

Parsley, Common

Peach Tree, Common -

Pennyroyal Mint - .

Peony, Common

Peppermint

Perforated St. John'sWort

Peruvian Bark Tree,>
Common . $

Pimento, or Jamaica;
Pepper - . J

Poiaon Nut
Pomegranate Tree
Prickly Saltwort -
Prune, Common, or )
Plam Tree . $

Latin Name.

Daphne Mezereum.
Astragalus Tragacantbia
Polygala Senega
Viscum Album -
Thymuf Serpyllum
Arnica Montana
Artemisia Vulgaris
Morm Nigra
Amomum Zingiber
Urtica Dioioa
Pinus Abies
Myristica Moschate
Quercus Robur -
Anchusa Officinalis
Guaiacum Officinale -
Scilla Maritima
Styrax Officinale
Ascelpias Vincetoxicum
ValerianaOificinalis,E.P.
Citrus Aurantium
Ricinus Commuais
. Delphinium Staphisagria
Viola Tricolor -
Cissampelos Pareira -
Apiuni Petroselinum -
Amygdalus Persica
Mentha Pulegium
Peonia Officinalis
Mentha Piperita
Hypericum Perforatum

Cinchona Officinalis

Myrtus Pimenta

Strycbnos Nux Vomica
Pnnica Granatnm
SalsoUKali -

Prunus Domestica

CUm. Order.
Yiii. 1
xvii. 3
xvii. 3
xxii. 4
*iv. 1
xix.
xix.
xxi.
i.

xxi.
xxi.
xxi. 10
xxi. 6
t. l
1

2
4
1
4
9

x.
▼i.
x.
v.

iii.
xviii.
xxi.
xiii.
xix.
xxii. 12
v. 2
xii. l
xiv. i

1
2
1
3
9
3
6

xiii. 2

- xiv. l

xviii. 4

▼. I

XII.

369

654
629
832
577
714
690
755
1
75^
778
834
762
165"
426
334
444
277
34
657
802
547
730
853
307
471
571
544

670

114

479

169

xii.

481

249

- XII. ]

484

Digitized by

Google

*\v

CQNTENT9-

English Name.

Latin Name. <

Class. Oruer.

**•

Purging Cassia

Cassia Fistula

423

Purple Gentian

Gentiana Purpurea

243

(tuince iW, Common

Pyrus Cydonia

xii.

493

Raspberry Bash

Rubus Ideus

xii.

501

Rattlesnake Root -

Polygala Senega *

xvii.

629

Red Currant :

Ribes Rubrum

152

Red Peruvian Bark Tree

Cinchona Rubra ■

127

9&1 Saunders Tree

Ptcrocarpus SaantalinQs

xvii.

650

Rhubarb

Rheum Palmatum

IX.

402

Rosemary, Common

■-

Rosmarinus Officinalis

ii.

Rough Parsnip

Opoponax

300

Round Kaempferia

< Zedoary,P.L.Kaempfe-
( ria rotunda, P. L.

Rice, Common

Rut a Graveoleus

434

Saffron - -

Crocus Sativus

iii.

Sarsaparilla

Smilax Sarasaparilla -

xxii.

841

Sassafras Tree

Laurus Sassafras

ix.

375

f aucc Alone, or Stinking \

XV.

622

Hedge' Mustard'

Sarin , Common

Juniperus Sabina

xxii

851

Saxifrage

Saxifraga Granulate

456

Seam mo ny Bindweed

Convolvulus Scammonia

105

Scotch Fir

Pinus Sylvestris

XXL

781

Scurvy-Grass, Common

Cochlearia Officinalis -

XV.

60$

Sea Eryngium Maritimum

280

Sea Onion

Scilla Maritima

334

Sea Wormwood

Artimesia Maritima

xix.

707

Senna, or Egyptian Cassia

417

Silver Fir Tree

Pinus Picea

xxi.

776

Simaruba Quassia

Quassia Simaruba

449

Sioe Tree

Primus Spinosa

xiL

482

Small Burnt Saxifrage

Pimpinella

304

Smaller Centaury

Chironia Centaupum -

147

Snake-Root

Aristolochia Serpentaria

XX.

743

Snakeweed

Polygonum Bistorta -

viii.

379

Soapwort

Saponaria Officinalis -

469

Socotrine Aloe

A loe Perforata Socotrina

▼i.

344

Sorrel, Common -

Rumex Acetosa

vi.

366

Southernwood

Artemisia Abrotapum -

'xix.

686

Spearmint

Mentha Viridis -

xiv.

562

Spleenwort

Asptaiium Tricomanes

xxiv. 1

883

Digitized by

Google

CdtfTENfs:

EcgLish Xante.

Latin Namfc.

C1«M.

Orfai

\ tige.

Squinting Cucumber

- Momordica filaterinm

*xl.

Stinking Goose-foot

• Chenopo-ium Fcetidum

239

Sugar-Cane -

- Saccharum O&cinarutn

iii.

Sweet Bay, Common

- Laurus" Ndbftis

• ix.

4ob

Sweet Fennel

- Ariethem Gravedlens ■

. +.

■**

:$m

Sweet Flag, or Acfoui

- Acrous Calamus"

. vi.

$53

Red Officindi Rose

- Rosa Gallica "- -

xiL

' 4<£

Sweet Marjoram

Origanum Marjoranuhl

xiv.

Tamarind Tree

Tamarinda Indica

xvi;

"'823

Tansy, Common

Tanacctum Vulgdre -

xix.

te*4

Tea

Thbia

216

Thorn-AJ>pIc

Datura Stramonium

•••isi

three coloured Violet -

Viola Tricolor ' - -

xix.

T50

Wfckacco,, .> tJ-

Nicotiana TaJjaccum -
Tornientilla Erecta

Tormentil, Common -

xii.

, $03

Touchwood, or Agaric

Boletus Jguiarius - .

xxiv

*tt

Trailing Arbutus

Arbutus Uva Ursi

( 1

Turpentine Tree

Pistachia Terebinthus

xxii.

837

rpnght.MeadowCrowfoot

Ranunculus Acris

xiii.

Xel

Upright Virgin's Bower

Clematis Kecta

xiii.

■'U

Vine, Common

Vitis Vinifera

xsy

Vtolet, Sweet

Viola Odorata

xix.

12*

Votuic Nut

Strycnnes Nux Vomica

Wake-Robin

Arum Mac ul at um

XX.

750

Walnut Tree, Common

Juglans Regia

xxi

770

Wall Peffitory

Parietaria Officinalis -

xxiii

860

Wall Stone-Crop, or 7
Wall Pepper - >

Sedum Acre

463

Water-Cresses

Sisymbrium Nasturtium

XV.

615

Water Dock

Rumex Uydrolapathum

vi.

364

Water Germander

Tencrium Scordiura

xiv.

586

Water Hemlock

Cicuta Virata

315

Water Trefoil

Men y an theft Trifoliata

Waybrcad

Plantago Major

i?.

White Bryony Root

Bryonia Alba

xxii. ]

827

White Hellebore

Veratrum Album

iii.

856

White Fraxinella

Dictamnus Albus

432

White Learcb, Common

Plinus Lansx

xxi.

172

White Lily

Lilium Candidum

yi.

357

White Poppy

Papaver Somniferum

xiii.

50a

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Eolith Kune.

White Saunders
Wild Angelica
Wild Carrot
Wild Lettuce'
Wild Marjoram
Willow Leaved Croton -
Wild Succory
Wild Valerian, L. P.
Willow, Common White
Willow*, various
Winter's Bark Tree
Winter Cherry, Common
Winter Wheat
Wolfs Bane, or Monk's- >
Hood - - )

Wood Betony
Wood-Sorrel
Woody Nightshade
Wormseed
Wormwood
Yarrow, Common

Yellow-Flowered Rho*
dodendrou

Yellow Gentian

CONTENTS.

Latin Wtm*.

Santalum Album
Angelica Sylvestris
Daucus Carote
Lactuca Virosa
Origanum Vulgare
Croton Cascazilla - -
Cichorium Jutybus
Valeriana Sy I vestrisjP.L.
Salix Alba

Wintera Aromatica
Physalis Alkekengi
Tnticura Uibernum

Aconitum Napellus

Bctonica Officinalis
Ovalis Acetosella
Solamam Dulcamara -
Artemisia Santonicum
Artemisia Absinthium
Achillea Millefolium -

CIms. Or*r. f*fl*
IV. 1 9*

2
2

xix.
xiv.

xxi. 9
xi*. I
iii. 1
xxii. 2

279
183
682
575
S05
680
34
830

xxii. 2 830-831

! Rhododendron Chry<
santhus

Gentiana Lutea

xtu.

iii.

xiii.

xiv.
x.
v.
xix.

4
1
2

1
5

1
2

xix. 2

x. 1

v. 2

5*2
171
76

54f

584
461
141
710
688
722

458

243

Erratum.
Fife 762 for Class xxx, read Class xxi.

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•

■

NARROW-LEAVED GINGER.

AtyQMUM ZINGIBER.

Class I. Bffonandria. Order J. Monogynia.

Ess^ktul Generic Chaeactehs. Calyx trifid, unequal, cylindrict Corolta
three-parted, unequal, spreading : Nectary two-lipped, almost erect.

Specific Characters. Scape middle-sized : Spike ovate s Leave* linear*
lanceolate.

DESCRIPTION.

I hie phot has two kinds of stalks ; one of which bears onJy
the leases, (which resemble those of reeds, common in Indja, and
closely wound round each other at the base,) *nd rises to a fbojt
or two in height : the other kind bears the flowers, and dpes not
rise beyond ten or twelre inches in height, terminating at the'
top by a kind of ear of very beautiful colours, formed of mem-
branons scales, amongst which the flowers proceed, which are

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Z NARROW-LEAVED GINGER.

composed of fire irregular petals, which hare somewhat the ap-
pearance of being lipped, and are succeeded by a capsule con-
taining three cells, and a great number of seeds.

HISTORY.

Ginger is a perennial plant, indigenous in the East Indies,
but now introduced into the West India islands. It is cultivated
there very much in the same manner as potatoes are here, and
is fit for digging once a-year, unless for preserving in syrup,
when it should be dug at the end of three or four months, at
which time it is tender and full of sap.

/ It is a hot-house plant, flowers with us in September, and was
$M cultivated in 1731, by Mr. Miller, in the physic-gardens at
Chelsea. /

Ginger is distinguished' into two sorts, the black and the
white. The former is rendered fit for preserving by means of
boiling water, the latter by insolation ; and as it is necessary to
select the fairest and roundest sorts for exposure to the sun,
white ginger is commonly one third dearer than black.

Black Ginger consists of thick anil knotty roots, internally of
an orange or brownish colour, externally of a yellow-gray. White
Ginger is less thick and knotty, internally of a reddish-yellow,
and externally of a whitish-gray or yellow. It is firm and re-
sinous, and more pungent than the black. Pieces which are
worm-eaten, light, friable, or soft, and very fibrous, are to be
rejected.

Candied Ginger should be prepared in India, from the young
and succulent roots. When genuine, it is almost transparent.
That manufactured in Europe is opaque, fibrous, and hard, and
not to be compared to the other*

Ginger has a fragrant smell, and a hot, biting, aromatic taste.
Neumann obtained by distillation with water from 7680 parts
of white ginger, about 60 of a volatile oil, having the smell
and distinguishing flavour of the ginger, but none of its pun-
gency. The watery extract was considerably pungent, and
amounted to %720, after which alcohol extracted 1 9% of a very
pungent resin. Alcohol applied first extracted 660 of pungent
resin, and water afterwards 2160 of a mucilaginous extract, with
little taste, and difficultly exsiccated. The black ginger contained
lest soluble matter than the white.

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•narrow -leaved ginger. 9

medical uses.

Ginger is a rery useful spice in cold flatulent colics, and in
laxity and debility of the intestines ; it does not heat so mnch as
the peppers, but its effects are more durable. It may also be
applied externally as a rubefacient

The employment of ginger in beer is well known, where the
latter would produce much flatulency.

Dyspeptic patients from hard drinking, and those subject' to
•flatulency and gout, have been known to receive considerable
benefit by the use of ginger tea ; taking two or three cupfuls for
breakfast, suiting it to their palate.

Many gouty patie/its have far years been in the habit of tak-
ing a tea-spoonful of ginger powder, mixed in any liquid, an
Jrour before dinner, and, they declare, with vary considerable ad-
vantage.

When employed with food it b called a condiment, and by
stimulating the stomach and bowels it may be considered as one
«£ the most useful.

It is often employed as a corrective with rhubarb, and other
drastic purges, to prevent gri pings of the bowels, and h stimu-
lates them so as to require a less dose to act upon them.

As ginger promotes the circulation through the extreme vest,
sels, it is to be advised in torpid and phlegmatic habits, where the
stomach is subject to be loaded with slime, and the bowels dis-
tended With flatulency. Hence it enters into the compound
tincture of cinnamon and the aromatic powder.

PREPARATIONS.
Syrup of Ginger. (Syrupus Zingiberls.)
Take of ginger, bruised, four ounces ;

boiling distilled water, three pints.

Macerate for four hours, (twenty-four, Dub.) and strain the
liquor ; then add double-refined sugar, and make into a syrup,
according to the mode prescribed. (Vide article Saccharum,

Sugar.)

Tincture op Ginger. (Tinctura Zingibers.)
Take of ginger, in coarse powder, two ounces ; proof spirit,

two pints.
Digest in a gentle heat for seven days, and strain.

This tincture is cordial and stimulant, and is only employed
as a corrective to purgative draughts.

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4 JUHJiaW-WJAVJBJ) £I*GB*.

Pr^servkp -Gijrqniu

'jThe 'Op* A>r **** purpose ;is dug up when the shoots do not
^axqeed ,h>e <m- flix inches in height. Being picked and washed,
.th^se are scalded till they ar^ rendered tender, then put into cold
water, and afterwards scraped and peeled. During this process
£he water is often changed. The roots are then put into jars,
and covered with a thin syrup, which, after two or three days,
£s removed, and a richer syrup substituted in its place. This is
' jometimes removed, and a fourth put on ; but they seldom em.
jploy more than three syrups. This is what is imported into
England, and is used much as a dainty, but not for any medi*
ctnal purpose.

Ginger Wine.

Take twenty quarts of water, fire pounds of sugar, three
ounces of white ginger, and an ounce of stick liquorice, and
-boil them well together ; when it is cold put a little new yeast
-upon.it, but not too much ; then put it into the barrel for ten
days, and after that bottle it : put a lump of powdered white
-sugar into fe*ery bottle.

This is an excellent wine for gouty habits, and I have been
much in Ahe habit of recommending it in such cases in lien of any
.other wine.

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CARDAMOM.

AMOMUM CARDAMOMUM.

Close I. Monandria. Order I. Monogynia.
£i*iMt. OW. Char'. Cafyjf trifid, nneq\i&1, cylinditict Corotla three-parted

unequal, spreading: Nectary twio-Hpped,altnbsf erect.
8 fcc. Char. Scape very simple and short: Br acta alternate, loose.

BESCRIPflON.

1 uia plant produces a root like the yellow fteg, or iris, which
In the spring sends forth marty seed-like stalks, which decay the
following autumn. These bear large lanceolate leave*, acutely
pointed, ribbed, alternate, sheathing the stalks. The flowers
consist of a single petal, or leaf, funnel-shaped, the border of
which is three-parted. The nectary is composed of one leaf,
spear- haped. The stamen consists of an anther without a
filament. The stigma of the* pistillum is turbinate; the capsule
fleshy, oyate, three-cornered and three-yaked.

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CARDAMOM*

HISTORY.
. The Cardamoms are brought from Malabar, and other placet
of the East Indies, in their pods or pericarps ; and when choosing
these, ire should observe that they be of a pale colour on the
outside, well-closed, and full of sound, reddish brown, odorous
and aromatic seeds. These must be kept in their pods, for when
taken out they soon lose a great part of their aromatic flavour.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

These seeds are an elegant and useful aromatic, of a grateful
imell and flavour, very warm, yet not fiery like pepper, or ca-
pable of producing a disagreeable heat or inflammation.

The natives of the country where this plant is produced use
them as a condiment, mixing the seeds with betel, and find that
they promote digestion.

Their great maxim of health and longevity is to keep the feet
and stomach warm, and the head cool ; and using a quantity of
vegetable foods, warm spices become the proper corrective,
without inflaming the blood.

By us it is employed chiefly as an adjuvant, and to cover the
taste of other medicines, especially mineral waters and saline
medicines ; and the London College have ordered apothecaries
to keep in their shops the following preparations :

PREPARATIONS.
Tincture of Cardamoms. (Tinctura Cardamomi.)

Take of the seeds of the lesser Cardamom freed from their

husks and bruised, three ounces,
i — - — - proof spirit, two pints.
Digest for eight days, and strain the tincture.

Compound Tincture of Cardamoms, formerly called Sro.
ma chic Tincture. (Tinctura Cardamomi composite)
Take of the seeds of the lesser Cardamoms husked and po wdered>
■ caraway seeds, powdered,

« -■ ■ cochineal, powdered, — two drachms of eacfr:

" " cinnamon, bruised, half an ounce ;
— — raisins, stoned, four ounces ;
■ ■ proof spirit, two pints,
digest for fourteen days, and strain the tincture.
Qf the cardamoms it is probable there is but one kind, al-

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CARDAMOM. 7

though two are mentioned ; and it is evident that the compound
tincture has less power than the simple, and the admixture of
raisins, which must blunt the powers of the other ingredients,
is rather extraordinary.

The dose of the Tincture or Cardamoms (Tinctura Car*
damomi) is from two to three drachms, and of the Compound
Tincture (Tinctura Cardamomi composite) from three drachms
to half an ounce. These are seldom ordered alone, but joined with
more powerful ingredients. In dyspeptic habits I have seen much
good arise from half a glass taken before dinner to rouse the
nerves of the stomach and aid digestion, acting in such cases
much after the manner of a condiment.

Both water and rectified spirit extract the virtues of the car.
damoms by infusion, and elevate them in distillation ; with this
difference, that the tincture and distilled spirit are considerably
more grateful than the infusion and distilled water : the watery
infusion appears turbid and mucilaginous ; the tincture made in
spirit, limpid and transparent.

Cardamoms enter very properly into several compositions ; as
when the Royal College orders the Cardamom seeds in what they
have thought fit to call Rhubarb Wins (Vinum Rhabarbari,
P. L.), also the Compound Tincture or Cinnamon (Tinctura
Cinnamomi composite, P. L.), the Compound Tincture or
Gentian (Tinctura Gentian* composite, P. L.), and the Tinc-
ture or Rhubarb (Tinctura Rhabarbari, P. L.)> Tincture op
Senna (Tinctura Sennae, P. L.)> And the Aromatic Powder
(Pulvis Aromaticus, P. L.)» and, lastly, the Aromatic Com.
rurriON (Confectio Aromatica, P. L.)«

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ROUND KiEMPFERIA.

ZEDOAltY, P.L.
K^EMPFERIA ROTUNDA, P. L.

Cbts f. Monandriar. Order I. Monogyni*.
Eneivt. Gror. Char. Corolla sir- parted, three of the putt larger, spread*

Ing, one two-parted: Stigma two-plated.
Spec. Char. Leaves lanceolate, petioled : Segment* of the Corolla linear*

DESCRIPTION.

l his plant rises to fire or six feet The stalks are chiefly
formed of convoluted leaves wrapped round one another at their
bases. The leaves are six or eight feet long, and three broad,
pointed, standing upon broad foot-stalks. The flower-stalks
rise but little above the ground, and on these are placed the7
flowers in spikes. No calyx. The corolla is composed of six
petals ; the three lower decline downwards, are long and narrow ;
the two upper are divided so deeply as to appear like a flower
with four petals, and the side petal is bifid, or deeply cleft.

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This plant has a most fragrant odour, dad- flowers* in July and
August, bat never produced scedsr hi our Stores. It was cuiti.
▼ated by Miller in 1 768. It is a native of the foist Indies. On
the authority of die Royal London Cdllege we have referred the
oflfchrai Zedoary to this plant : trot ftcrgius says that it is a spe*
cies of Amoirrum ; and this opinion receives additional weight by
the description of the true Zedottry as* given ns by Camettira.

The root of this plant is brought over to us hi1 oblong pieces
two or three inches in length, bent, rough and angular, firm and
ponderous, about the thickness of one's finger*; or in roundish
ones about art inch in diameter, both of them of iff astr colour
on the outside, and whke Wirhfn, and indiscriminately used.
They possess a fragrant agreeable smell, much resembling came
phor ; andf by distilling the fresh" root we find a smart portion of
a true camphor swimming at the top of the dfetitied wafer, in
die form of very smart* after thht laminae. If possesses also a sfeght
bitterness, and considerable warmth and pungency.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

Br. Itonakl Monro' extol* this- root as a warm cordial stow
machic, and an expetter of wkid, excellent in phlegmatic habita,
and the pituitous asthma. He says, that it is not much used in
the present practice of physic : but that it is certainly a good
medicine, and may be prescribed, with advantage, where a warm
cordial bitter is indicated.

Cullen says, it does not merit a place in the Materia Medica,
and Woodville reports it should be wholly discarded : but our
present knowledge is too limited to expunge any one article
from the few that have been selected out of thirty thousand
plants.

WJien ordered, it should be directed from fifteen grains to a
drachm. An useful tincture might be made of it, as I have
found, and in this way it has proved an excellent remedy in
Pyrosis, flow of water from the mouth ; and heart-burn, Car-

PREPARATIONS.
The Royal London College have only received it in their aro-
matic confection, formerly called Cordial Confection (Con.
fectio Aromatica, olim Confcctio Cardiaca, P. £.), of which it
makes the principal ingredient, which is thus ordered :

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iO HOUND KJBMPFERIA.

Cordial Confection. (Confectio Cardiaca.)

Take of zedoary, grossly powdered,

« saffron, half a pound of each : \

« distilled water, three pints.

Macerate for twenty-four hours, then press and strain. Eva-
porate the strained liquor to a pound and a half; and then add
the following ingredients reduced to a fine powder :

compound powder of crabs claws, sixteen ounces ;

cinnamon;

■ nutmeg, two ounces of each ;

cloves, an ounce;

lesser cardamom seeds, husked, half an ounce;

. double refined sugar, two pounds;

Make a confection.

The dose of this confection is from one scruple to one drachm,
in any convenient vehicle, to raise and recruit the spirits ; and as
an adjuvant it is more employed than any other ingredient in the
whole Materia Medica, combined with more active ingredients.
It enables persons to retain medicines, which otherwise would
nauseate the stomach, gives a colour to colourless ingredients,
and produces a physicky taste, so necessary when exhibiting cer-
tain remedies, as camphorated mixture, &c.

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LONG-ROOTED TURMERIC.
TURMERIC, L. P.

CURCUMA LONGA, L. P*

Clan I. Monandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Essekt. Gen. Char. Stamina five; four barren, one fertile : Corolla four*

parted : Nectary three-lobed : Filament flat.
8*ec. Char. Leaves lanceolate : lateral Nerve* very numerous.

PESCR1PTION.
The leaves are about a span long, and three or four inches
broad, of a fine green colour, and pointed at the end. The-,
flowers grow on stalks of eight, ten, or more inches -high, and'
of the thickness of one's little finger ; they are collected in a kiud
of scaly cone, of an oblong figure, of a pale reddish colour*
HISTORY.
Turmeric is a perennial plant, a native of the East Tndies*
The roots are tuberous, knotty, and long, wrinkled, externally
of a pale yellow colour, and internally of a shining saffron
brown* They hare a weak aromatic smell, and a slightly bitter
aromatic taste* They contain a Very little essential oil; and

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12 LONG-ROOTED TUMERIC.

Neumann got from 060 parts, 3fe0 watery and afterwards BO
alcoholic extract, and inversely \60 alcoholic and 210 watery.

MEDICAL USES.

Turmeric, when taken internally, tinges flie urine of a deep
yellow colour, and acts as a gentle stimulant. It has been ce-
lebrated in diseases of the liver, jaundice, cachexy, dropsy, in.
termittent fevers, &c. But its internal use m this country is al.
most confined to its being a principal ingredient in the compo-
sition of curry-powder, in tfhi'ch- form it is used in immense quan-
tities in the East Indies. It is also a most valuable dye, and an
excellent chemical test of the presence of uncombined alkalies ;
for the yellow colour of turmeric is changed by them to a reddish
brown. '

It possesses rather a fragrant odour, is slightly bitterish, and
excites a moderate degree of warmth in the mouth, imparting to
the saliva a yellow tinge.

It is used in the East as a condiment to food, and employed
by us chiefly in cookery for colouring of puddings. It is em.
ployed also in dyeing a fine yellow.

The dose* of this' root iff from a scruple to a drachm in substance.

From an ignorant suspicion that the jaundice was to be cured
by whatever produced a yellow colour, that is, I suspect, seeing
the bile diffused into the habit, from obstruction of the passage
of the gall-duct, these yellow remedies were used to supply its
plafce, justafc the yolk* of eggs are used in the same complaint;
nor when bracers or stimulants can we object to these popular
remedies.

As a cordial, aromatic, mifd blffer, the Turmeric has often
roused the torpid actions of the primee viae, and removed the
obstruction whrrr arising from spasm ; and as rhubarb was at the
mtne time commorfly used, this carriod off the slime, another
common cause of obstruction*, and also of spasm ; and where1
the eggs were eaten raw as a nutritious rircngthener, these, t&.'
gethtT often witti the saffron in tea, curetj slight cases of jatmi.'
dice, especially in children ; and therefore I cannot consent, with
Dr. Cullen arm! Dr. Woodville, to the discarding this tmM sto-
machic altogether from amongst the class of remedies, although
It possess only slender virtue.

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EUROPEAN OLIVE.

OLEA EUROP^A.

Class II. DiandrU. Order I. Monogynia.

jtonrr. G0T. Char. Corolla four-cleft, aegaients fubavale: Drop* one*
seeded.

&>ec. Chak. Leave* lanceolate, very entire; Mac*m,u axillary, con-
tracted.

DESCRIPTION.
1 uis is an evergreen, with obtong, narrow^ willow-li,ke leaves,
ajo4 jnonogetalons whitish flowers, cut into four sections, or
aegxoents, fallowed by a cluster oi oval black fruit, containing
coder a fleshy pulp a hard rough stone* It bears the ordinary
.winter* of our climate.

HISTORY.

The oKve tree is a native of the south of Europe and north

of Africa. It is cultivated in France, Spain, and Italy, for the

take of its fruit, and the oil expressed from it Olives, when

fresh, haye an acrid, bitter, and extremely disagreeable taste;

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14 EUROPEAN OLIVE.

bat they are only eaten when pickled. They are first steeped
for several days in a ley of wood-ashes, and then pickled in a
strong solution of muriate of soda.

They are principally valued for the oil they afford by expres-
sion.

For this purpose they are gathered when fully ripe, and im-
mediately bruised and subjected to the press. The finest oil
flows first, and a very bad oil is obtained by boiling the magma,
which remains after expression, in water. According to Baum6,
they are gathered when sufficiently ripe : they are then dried,
to deprive the mucilage, of which they contain a large quantity,
of its water, and are expressed after being bruised, and moist-
ened with a little water, to render the oil more fluid. By rest,
the mucilage and water which may have passed with it separate.
Olive oil is sometimes mixed with oil of poppy seeds ; but, by
exposing the mixture to the freezing temperature, the olive oil
freezes, while that of the poppies remains fluid ; and as oils
which freeze with most difficulty are most apt to become rancid,
olive oil is deteriorated by the admixture of poppy oil.

Good olive oil should have a pale yellow colour, somewhat
inclining to green, a bland taste, without smell, and should
congeal at 38° Fahrenheit. In this country it is frequently
rajocid and sometimes adulterated.

MEDICINAL USE.

Taken internally, it operates as a gentle laxative, and is give*
in cases of worms. It is also given in large quantities to miti-
gate the action of acrid substances taken into the stomach. It
is used externally in frictions, in gargles, and in clysters ; but
its principal employment is for the composition of ointments and
plasters.

By woeful mistake I once took the whole contents of a two-
ounce phial of Eau de Luce : but by presence of mind, or in-
stinct, I immediately flew to the aid of butter ; and this, every
one knows, melting in the heat of the stomach acts as oil. I men-
tion this, as upon such occasions time is pressing, and danger
urgent, and often there may be found immediately this one and
not the other kinds of emetics.

Taken largely it will act as a vomit, from its sticking to the
fauces, and, irritating them, producing sympathetic actions of tho
stomach and intercostal muscles.

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EtJROPEAN OlilVB. IS

Oil is supposed destructive to worms, from the fact, that if
a wasp be touched with an oiled feather H will instantly die,
through the effect of oil in stopping the spiraculae'of insects.
But from experiments it is found, that, though oil be poured
fcpon them, worms will continue seemingly uninjured. The
above supposition, therefore, seems to be unfounded, and to
arise from a mistaken analogy.

But the most remarkable property attributed to oil, is the
cure it is thought to perform on persons bit by a viper, it being
esteemed the sovereign antidote. In the Philosophical Transact
tions, vol. nxhr. p. 310, are related the experiments made
by one William Oliver, who suffered his arm to be bit by a vi-
per and waited till the most violent symptoms ensued, when
these were soon removed by the applying warm oil of olives "to
the affected part*.

Mead, in his Treatise on Poisons, speaks of a remedy which was
reckoned in his time a real specific against the bite of the viper +.
He says that the viper-catchers fn England used it with so much
confidence, that they were no more afraid of the bite of a viper
than a common prick of a pin. Mead purchased this secret, and
found it to be nothing more than the fat of the viper itself, which
they rubbed on the bitten part.

The Academy of Sciences in Paris, struck with the importance
of this seeming discovery, deputed two of their members, Messrs.
Geoffroiand Hanauld, to inquire into the subject; and they de-
termined that oil is no specific against the bite of the viper J.
Vide Mem. de TAcadem. 1737.

Linnaeus (Amoen. Acad. vol. vi. p. 213) mentions that he was
disappointed in the use of oil, and says that the woman bitten by

* The fact is not to be disputed, but it arose from the poison of one viper-
not being destructive; for Fontana, who wrote on Poisons, doubts whether
a man was ever killed by the bite of one viper.

t This illustrious physician tried an experiment first with a dog, which
be caused to be bitten in the nose! It recovered by the oil. But, says Fon-
tana, mad nothing .been employed, recovery would have taken place : for
one viper, as with the human subject, is incapable of producing death.
Lunar caustic is found to be the specific for the bite of the viper. Vide
our Philosophy of Medicine, vol. iii.

X Experiments were made by these gentlemen on rabbits, pigeons, and
mice ; and these were quickly destroyed, although the oil was employe^
sad the viper's fat.

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$e ColuherQwrsea, to whom he administered it both externally
and internally, died notwithstanding in great agony,

The prevention of canine madness U sajd to hare arisen in a
rimUar way by the we of oil, and successful .cases a*e related .in
Frank. Sammh T. 9. £90. But experience, in other hands, has
«9ntradicte4 these positive assertions *•

A more extraordinary effect of qU is reported by Jflf. jBatdwiiij
theljlritiib consul at Smyrna, who observed that amongst the nu-
merous tribe of oil. porters, none were infected with the plague,
Led by this hipt, he proposed unction of the body vUh oil to
keep off the plague ; ana1 the following was the result of the first
trial. In the year 1752, tweaty-two Venetian sailors Jived h>#
$&y& with throe infected persons, all of wfepm died ; (hut the
twenty-two sailors, who had been repeatedly anointed with the
oil, remained free from the infection. Three A*ttenjan f am Mies,
f onsisting of twenty-seven persons, occupying ,the same 4toor,
closely attended the sick of the plague, but, being daily rubbed
with ojj, were preserved from the infection. *' Tfce nurses, in
our hospitals of Smyrna, who attend the sick night and day,y
says Baldwin, 4C by the same method have been hanpjHy preserved
from contagion."

After this the oil was employed in the first stages of the plague

♦ The application of oil, in this country, does not appear to have been
employed to the part bitten, but afterwards exhibited to the patient
upon the accession of the hydrophobia. Dr. Girdlestone tried it in one
case, and be gives us this information : "Immediately upon seeing him, I gave
him a large cup of olive oil. He had much increase of convulsive action
•n his endeavours to swallow it; but after getting a little down, he swal-
lowed the rest very hastily. The cooling and pleasant yn«atirtnal which the
oil quickly produced, gave him at first great hopes ; and he was able after*
wards to swallow three cups with much less difficulty. But towards even-,
ing he died.*' At Sudbury, Dr. Maclean relates, partial friction in one case
Was employed for about an hour, until an oil bath could be procured. In
this the patient remained ten minutes ; when that uneasiness, that horror,
which hydrophobics constantly express at the touch of every thing fluid*
whether hot or cold, irresistibly caused him to spring from out the hogs-
bead in which the oil was contained, with an agUity that astonished all
around j soon after which he died. Dr. Shad well of Brentwood had also
a case, where the patient's body was anointed with oil ; and the attempt
being made to administer it internally, a clyster of mutton-broth and oij,
ms a snecedaneom, was employed ; but the patient in no wise seemed be-
nefited.

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EU*OP6AN OLIVM.' 17

ai Smyrna, and with the happiest success. The body Wa* rob-
bed all oyer with tepid olive oil. A wine-pint was esteemed a
core.

It is a curious coincidence, that the use of oil is mentioned in
sacred writ. " Let the sick be anointed with oil, and saved>
The Caffres, who constantly smear the body with lard, or oil, re-
main free from the yellow fever; and the Esquimaux tribes, wfeo
also regale on seal oil, remain also free ; and when the plagve
raged in London, tallow-melters and butchers were found
exempt.

Instead of clogging up the pores, as might be suspected by-
some, the pores became open, and the consequence of the oil
was to produce a salutary sweat.

I know but of one case where this remedy was tried in our
common typhus, or putrid fever. Being requested, says Dr.
Fothergill, to 'visit a poor boy named Thomas ' Countey in a
wretched lodging in a narrow alley in Bath, <on the sixth day of
a fever, I found the surface of the body discoloured with pur*
pie petechia ; attended with great prostration of strength, low
tremulous pulse, inquietude, delirium, &c. Though these sym-
ptoms, and the advanced state of the disease, seemed to pre-
clude all hopes of success from either iuternal or external reme-
dies ; yet, rather than abandon him to despair, the whole body
was directed to be rubbed with olive oil every four hours, if
strength would permit, and its operation to be aided by warm
whey, accompanied by a suitable diet of gruel, and arrow-root,
and he took a moderate . dose of castor oil, as coinciding with
the general plan. After some time his parched skin became
moistened, and at length he broke out into a full perspiration.
By continuing this simple plan all the alarming symptoms sub-
sided, the purple spots vanished, and his recovery was speedy
beyond my expectation.

No sooner, continues Dr. Fothergill, had the lad recovered,
when the poor woman, his mother, who nnrscd him through
the illness, was seized with evident symptoms of having caught
the infection. The above-mentioned process being instantly per-
formed, and having now much less difficulty to encounter, this
new plan was very speedily and strikingly crowned with success.

Dr. Oliver* relates (Philosophical Transactions, vol. xlix. p. 49)

* An eminent physician of Patb, who wrote on the Bath waters.

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18 EUROPEAN OLIVE.

that o& rubbed over the body he found of great serrice in dropsies,
especially Apcites ; this from the supposed absorption of water
from the atmosphere, which 13 thought to influence this disease.

This practice is worthy of consideration, for the oil softens the
skin, and lessens the inflammation produced from distension *•

Woodville says, that oil is good in nephritic complaints,
spasms, colics, worms, &c. ; but in this he only follows the fan-
ciful enumeration of virtues so profusely given to several, arti«
clc8 in the Materia Medica.

Oil, and fats of all kind, and butter are supposed bad against
the bile t : but by bile is meant a weak state of the stomach,
and when an acidity prevails there, the oil becomes rancid, and
this is known to disorder most stomachs.
PREPARATIONS.

Oil is usefully employed in clysters, to soften indurated faeces,
and make them pass easy, as in the common domestic clyster, a
tea-spoonful of salt, a dessert-spoonful of olive oil, and half-a-
pintof warm gruel.

Oil united with alkali forms soap, and where there is a defect
of bile, pills of Castillo soap, four or five, with a little rhubarb,
have produced great benefit.

Oil enters into the composition of several ointments, as the
following :

The Wax Ointment (Unguentum Cerae, olim Unguentum
album, P. L.):

Take of white wax, four ounces,

— — spermaceti, three ounces,

olive oil, a pint :

MU them together over a gentle fire, and then stir them very
briskly, without ceasing, till they are cold.

And in what the Royal College call the Ointment of Sperma-
ceti (Unguentum Spermaceti, olim Linimentum album,), which
is thus ordered :

Take of spermaceti, six drachms,

■< white wax, two drachms,

■ olive oil, three ounces :

* The usual remedies for the dropsy are Co be employed at Che same
time.

. t Bile hfa composition of oil and alkali, a kind of soap 1 and the use of
tbe omentum seems to be to fornish fat or oil for the composition of bile, to,
little is the bile injured by oil. .

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EUROPEAN OLIVE, 19

Melt all together oyer a gentle fire, stirring briskly, without in*
tennission, till tb$ ointment becomes cold.

Also in their Cerate of Spermaceti (Ccratum Spermatls
Ceti): thus,

Take of spermaceti, half an ounce,

■ white wax, two ounces,
' ■■ olive oil, four ounces :

Melt them together, and keep stirring them till the cerate cools.

Also in the Ointment of Acetated Ceruse (Unguentum
Cernssae acetate, olim Unguentum Saturninum, P. L.) ;

Take of acetated ceruse, two drachms,
1 ' ■ white wax, two ounces,

- olive oil, half a pint :

Rub the acetated ceruse iuto a powder with some part of the
oil ; then add this to the wax after it has been melted along with
the rest of the oil, and stir the mixture till it is cold.

And in the Cerate * of Acetated Litharge (Ccratum LL
tbargyri acetati, P.X.):

Take of the water of acetated litharge, two ounces and a hajf,

~- * yellow wax, four ounces,

■ olive oil, nine ounces,
camphor, half a drachm :

Rob the camphor with a little of the oil ; dissolve the wax
with the rest of the oil; and as soon as they begin to thicken,
add the water of acetated litharge, and keep stirring till they
cool ; then mix the camphor which had been rubbed with the oil.
These softening ointments and cerates are supposed only to
supple the parts, and hinder the rag or lint from sticking to
the granulating flesh ; for which purpose oil is spread over bread
Md milk poultices, or the poultice of linseed-meal, being soft
nnirritating applications to the part ; and they are thought also
to keep the air from wounds, which is known to irritate them,
from the oxygen in the air, but to have otherwise no peculiar
healing virtue.

* Oiafmeaft, Limmmti, and Cerates differ principally from plasters in
their consistency. A plaster reduced by the addition of oil to the consist*
esce of honey will form an ointment, and by softening it with more oil U
becomes then a liniment. Cerates have a stlfler consistency than either,
AH these kinds of compositions should be melted down with a gentle beat,
and are commonly spread on soft linen rag, or lint.

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90 gtmOPEAN OLlVE.

The following is supposed to be drawing, the Ointment of
Yellow Rosin (Unguentum Resinae ftavae, olim Unguentum!
fiasilicon flavum, P. L.) :

Take of yellow rosin,

yellow wax, a pound of eadi ;

olive oil, a pint :

Melt the rosin and wax with a gentle heat ; then add the oil, and
strain the mixture while jet warm.

This plaster is employed for the dressing of broken chilblains,
and other sores that require stimulating : it is also used to drive
milk away, being placed over the tumid breasts when the child
is weaned.

The following is known by £he vulgar name of Turner's Ce-
rate, as curing the wounds of Turners, and is good in broken
chilblains, the Cerate of Calamy (Ceratum Lapidis Calami*
naris, olim Ceratum Epuloticum, P. L.) r
, Take of prepared calamy,

yellow wax, half-a-pound of each ;

olive oil, a pint :

Melt the wax with the oil, and as soon as they begin to thicken,
sprinkle in the prepared calamy, and keep it stirring till the ce-
rate is cool.

It enters into the composition of die mild and strong liniments
of ammonia: thus,

Liniment of Ammonia (Linimentum Ammonhe, olim lini-
men turn volatile, L. P.) :

Take of water of ammonia, half-an-ounee ;

olive oil, an ounce and a half:

Mix by shaking them in a phial.

s Strong Liniment of Ammonia (Linimentum Ammoniac for*
tins, L. P.);

Take of pure water. of ammonia, an ounce ;

olive oil, two ounces :

Mix by shaking them in a phial.

. These are used* as gently stimulating affected parts, to invite
the blood to those parts, and have been found of service in rheu-
matism of the chronic kind, in paralytic affections, white swell*
**g*5 goaty attacks in the joints likely to recede, &c

The oil moderates the too highly stimulating effects of the
ammonia, and hence it usefully enters into compositions with,
turpentine ; which see under that article.

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VERONICA BECABUNGA.

BROOKLIME, OR WATER. SPEEDWELL.

Class II* Diandria. Ordet I. Monogyaia.
Esseny. Gen, Char. Corolla four-deft, wheel-shaped, with the wider

Segment narrower: Capsule superior, twof»celled.
Spec. Char,. Racemes lateral: Leaves elliptic flat: Stem creeping*

DESCRIPTION.
Jt is a yery beautiful plant when in flower ; its stalks are round,
thick, and succulent, and grow to ten inches or a foot in length ;
hot they do not stand entirely erect, but are procumbent in
part, and often take fresh root at the joints, where they touch
tile ground. They are sometimes single, often branched, and
when cut through appear of a spongy nature. The leares are
wblong, rounded at the ends, and serrated about the edges ; they
stand in pairs, two at every joint of the stalk opposite to each
other; they are near an inch long, smooth on the surface,
and somewhat glossy, of a thick substance, and of a dark or
blackish green colour. From the alas of these leares there
arise pedicles one on each side ; these are three inches long, or
thereabouts* and are each ornamented with a long series of flow*

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22 tSR6*UCA RECABUNqA.

era of a beautiful sky-blue colour, divided into four segments at
the edge, and are succeeded by small seed-vessels, flat and of a
kind of cordated form, in which are lodged a number of small
seeds in two cells. The root is small and creeping, and of a
white colour. It grows in great abundance with us, the com*
panion of water cresses, and propagates itself very quickly by
the spreading of its root

HISTORY,

This plant is thus described in the New Edinburgh Dispen-
satory t

This is a low perennial plant, common in little ri to lets and
ditches of standing water, and flowering in July. The leaves
remain all the winter, but are in greatest perfection in the
spring* Their taste is herbaceous, with a very light bitter-
ness**

MEDICAL USE.

If any good effects be expected from brooklime, it should be
Used as food*

As having a bland mild juice, its leaves form a proper cor-
rective of fiery vegetables, whose pungency these tend to les-
sen, and the juice of the whole herb not improperly enters into
the composition of the Compound Juice of Scurvy-grass
(Succus Cochleariae compositus, olim Succi Scorbutici, P. L.),
which see under the article Scurvy.grass, as a bland corrective,
yet not as having much medicinal virtue.

Rutty says that its juice is saponaceous, and taken in a large
quantity opens the body in the easiest manner.

Dioscorides mentions a use that deserves the attention of mo-
dern practitioners. " Folia in vino pota, stranguria et vesica
scabie laborantibus opitulantur ;" its leaves drunk in wine re*
lieve the strangury, and diseases of {he bladder.

The juice is said neither to turn sour or putrid by keeping,
and can be only esteemed as a mild refrigerant.

* Authors report, " calcutam renum et vesicas ejpellit, taeoses ciet,
fetum mortuum ejicit !" So filled with lies are the Materia Medic* 1

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GRATIOLA OFFICINALIS.

HEDGE. HYSSOP-

Clou II. Diandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Ement. Gew. Char. Calyx scveo-leaved, the two outer patulous: C*roU*

irregular, reversed: Stamina two barren : CapmiU two-celled.
gpu. Chai. Leava lanceolate, serrate : Flowers pedancled.

DBSCRIPTION.

The stalks of this plant are erect, and have frequent knots or
joints ; they rise to ten or twelve inches high : the leaves stand1
in pairs at the joints, are of an oblong figure, an inch in
length, and more than half an inch in breadth : they are smooth,
and extremely bitter to the taste : from the ale of these leaves
arise flowers standing singly ; they are tubular, consisting of a
single petal, and perforated behind. In their hind part they are
bent like a horn, and of a yellow colour, striped with brown
streaks ; they are two thirds of an inch in length, and about a
quarter of an inch in diameter, and at the front are divided into
two lips of a pale purplish colour, standing far asunder : the
upper lip is of the shape of a heart, and bent upwards : the lower
one is divided into three segments ; the cup is divided into five
segments, and the flower is succeeded by a single fruit of a round-
ish figure, but pointed, of a pale purple colour, divided into two
cells and filled with minute seeds.

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34 HEDGE-HYSSOP.

HISTORY.

This plant is thus described in the New Edinburgh Dispensa*
tory : This is a perennial plant, a native of marshy situations in
the south of Europe. It is gathered for use when in flower. It
has bo smell/ but a very bitter, somewhat nauseous taste. It is
a drastic purgative and emetic, and a very, powerful anthelmintic,
but its use requires caution. In substance it may be given to
the extent of half a drachm, and in infusion to three drachms.

ADDITIONAL REMARKS.

The Gratiola flowers in June or July, continuing till August or
September. It was introduced into our gardens by Gerard in
1568. It has no smell. The leaves, which are the parts used in
medicine, are intensely bitter, slightly astringent, and have some
degree of pungency in them ; they impart their medicinal virtue
to both water and spirit An extract may be also formed* Wood-
▼ille, like Dr. Duncan jun., has been extremely short and de-
fective in his account of the virtues of this plant. After Cullen,
he says, " that like the other verticillate plants, this acts as a sti-
mulant, from the essential oil it contains, and hence is recom*
mended as a remedy against hysterica and to promote the courses.
It is good in fomentations for contusions, and for removing blackT
ness from extravasated fluids ; and is used as a pectoral, being
made into tea, and sweetened with sugar or honey."

Such is his account of a poisonous remedy very much resem*
Mfag in virtues the Digitalis. Miller speaking of this plant says,
* that it is of rugged onrush nature." Hoffman, with others
speaking of this plant, says, " Non tantum per inferiora, sed ct
superior* pnrgat, et tarn violenter, ut quidam helleboro, quidem
pttyusae." — u That it vomits upwards and downwards, and so
violently, that it is compared to hellebore, or some other drastic
purge."

Alston, speaking of this plant, says, that u it acts as an acrid
and violent purgative and emetic, and evacuates phlegmatic,
bilious, and watery humours ; hence HHs extolled in jaundice,
asthmas, dropsies, and agues." Nailer mentions its use in epi-
leptic fits, in which we have fdcrtid the digitalis useful. Goof,
frey says, that it is so rough a purge, that it is only fit to be
given to strong people, and that it frequently occasions violent
pains of the bowels, and an over purging in young persons.

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JUBOBvUTSfOfe 85

Having ascertained the nature of this plant, wa shall find reason
for its application hi medicine.

Boerhaave has give* this plant its true character: " Efficax
remedium est in humoribns aqnosis, lentis, biliosisqoe specified
efftcuaadis, qoos vel ex remotissimis partibus trahit, atque turn
per secessum, turn per Toraitora expnrgat. Hinc magnus ejus
usus esse potent in h yd rope, ictero flavo, kc. fit quia amari*
tndine iasuper dotata est insigni fugat lumbricos, eorum sabur*
ram expurgat. Corrigitur cinnam. sera, anisi, glycyrrhiaa, &«•
Dosis feliorum pulv. dr. 1. infusoram ad dr. 2. extr. scr. 1."

That is, "this plant is excellent for the eTacnation of bile
and water, and for expelling worms."

For dropsies the dose is from ten grains to half a drachm of
the dried leaves in powder, and I have seen it relieve water in
the chest. Nausea was induced, often vomiting, and always
purging.

The best mode of ordering it is to put two drachms of the
fresh leaves, or a drachm of the dried, to five or six ounces of
boiling water, and let it infuse during the night ; then strain it
off in the morning, and form it into an emulsion, by triturating
six blanched almonds with it, afterwards adding to it an ounce
of syrup of violets, or altbea, and to repeat a table-spoonful
every hoar until it vomits or purges.

Bergius mentions that ten grains of the powder mixed with
five of gentian root, in some cinnamon water, given every two
hours, until it vomited or purged, or both, was of great service
in bilious autumnal or putrid fevers ; and there is no doubt, by
thus evacuating the prima true, this success was not an idle
boast. 'Vide our Philosophy of Medicine, vol. iii.

Bolduc says that he found the root of this plant in powder,
given in half a drachm for a dose, as good a specific in dysentery
as the ipecacuanha, when the disease had not proceeded too far,
it beiog astringent as well as bitter.

Kostrewiski, a Polish physician, has mentioned some extra.
ordinary facts relative to the virtues of this plant. He relates,
that given in the dose of half a drachm (in the morning) it had
a remarkably good effect in several maniacal cases ; and that an
extract made from this herb had cured symptoms of the venereal
disorder, the ozena, ulcers of the throat, nodes, >&c, even
where mercury seemed to do no good, but harm. The medicine
was thus prepared :

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36 Bfci>G£*HYS60*.

Take of the extract of gratiola, a drachm,

white sugar, two drachms and a half,

crabs' eyes prepared, an equal quantity,

fennel seeds, in powder, a drachm :

Ten grains of this was given three times a day ; the dose was
increased to double the quantity by degrees, and continued for
ten or more weeks.

It usually excited some nausea, a copious flow of urine, se-
veral motions, and in some instances salivation.

After such accounts, surely, this plant merits much considera*
lion, and a further trial*

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COMMON ROSEMARY.

ROSMARINUS OFFICINALIS.

Class II. DiaodrU. Order I. Monogynia.
Emkkt. Gbw. Cbas. Corolla unequal; upper lip two-parted: filamtntt

long, carved, simple with a tooth.
Spec. Char. Leaves senile.

DESCRIPTION.

Rosemary flowers are small, but they are not without their
beauty. They are of the labiated kind, and consist of one petal
dirided into two parts, gaping widely from one another at the
month, or opening. The one of these, which is placed upwards,
U turned somewhat back, and is divided again into two, and
makes as it were two horns ; the lower part is again divided into
three segments, and the middle one of these is hollowed in form
of a spoon, and has at its extremity a fissure or little nick, di-
viding it into two in that part. The whole flower is of a pale
blacish, or grayish white, and of an extremely fragrant smell
and aromatic taste. It is not a native of England, but is culti-
vated e^ery where with us.

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28 COMMON ROSEMARY*

HISTORY.
Rosemary is a perennial shrub, which grows wild in the south
of Europe, and is cultivated in our gardens. It has a fragrant
smell, and a warm pungent bitterish taste, approaching to la-
Tender ; the leaves and tender tops are strongest ; next to these
the cap of the flower; the flowers themselves are considerably
the weakest, but most pleasant.

MEDICAL USE.
Its virtues depend entirely on its essential oil, which seems to
be combined with camphor, not only from its peculiar taste, but
from its possessing chemical properties which depend on the
presence of camphor ; and from its depositing crystals of cam*
phor when long kept, i

This plant, like many others, has obtained a celebrity which
it little merits. Like lavender, it may gently stimulate the sy-
stem, and is a mild cordial : but it has no claim to any of those
high encomiums bestowed upon this simple herb. Boerhaave
says, "in affectibus capitis et nervorum, apoplexfa, epilepsia,
paralysi, vertiglnc, caro, &c. visum acuunt; . fcetorem anhe-
litus emendant; hepatis, licnis, et uteri obstructions resolvunt.
Ictero et fluori albo mulierum medentur, corque confortant."

After this encomium from so distinguished a physician, we
cannot wonder at seeing in poets,

u There's rosemary ; that's for remembrance."

Shakspeariv
So speaks Ophelia. Perdita thus alludes to it :

44 ■ ■ —Reverend sirs,

For you there 's rosemary and rue ; these keep
Seeming and savour all the winter long :
Remembrance and grace be to you both."

Shaksfeare,

This quality rendered it a fit present of the lover. Thus In
a sonnet in 1584:

u Rosemary is for remembrance
Betweenc us daie and night ;
Wishing that I might alwaies have
You present in my sight."

Its smell is certainly reviving, and this is found particularly
in what is denominated the queen of Hungary's water, which
smelt to on the handkerchief greatly relieves a headache, or
if sprinkled on the forehead. It is made thus :

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COMMON ROSEMARY. $9

'*»

PREPARATIONS. .

Take of the flowers of rosemary, two pounds ;

■■ rectified wine, four pounds :

Distil in a water-bath. This is common Hungary water. The
London College order a spirit, which answers a similar purpose, «
it is called

Spirit of Rosemary. (Spiritus Rorismarini.)

Take of the fresh tops of rosemary, a pound and a half;

proof spirit, a gallon :

Distil off in a water-bath, fire pints.

This is useful as an outward application in strains and bruises,
and, giren internally, is said to have cured a queen of Hungary
of a paralytic affection. The College mention also in their
Phannacopceia an Essential Oil of Rosemary (Oleum Essen*
tiale Rorismarini). As a cephalic, four or five drops of the oil
are giren in a dessertspoonful of the spirit ; also in hysterics.

The spirit properly enters into the composition of the Com.
pound Tincture of Lavender (Tinctura Lavendulae compo-
site P. L.); also of the Soap Liniment (Linimentum Saponis).

The tops are used as a kind of tea, but are not so good as the
lage tea for domestic use.

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/"*

^Bi

BLACK

PEPPER.

PIPER NIGRUM.

Class II. Diandria. Order IH. Trigynfa,
Emcivt. Ge?t. Char. Calyx none: Corolla none: Berry one-seeded.
Secc. Char. Leaves ovate, seven-nerved, smooth: Petioles very simple.

DESCRIPTION.

I he stem is jointed, and forked, of a green colour but woody
texture, climbing like the hop, or trailing upon the ground.
When running along the ground, at every joint they send out
roots. The leaves stand singly, and are roundish, and of a firm
texture, each having seven nerves, of a dusky green on the upper
side, and of a paler green underneath, standing on short peti-
oles. The flowers are small and monopetalous, divided into three
segments at the end, having no peduncles, but are placed in a

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BLACK PEPPEft, 31

duster on the ftalk. The fruit which succeeds is a berry :
twenty or thirty are seen crowding one stalk, at first green,
then red, and afterwards black, bat white internally.

HISTORY.
Sp. 1. The black pepper is the fruit of a shrubby creeping
plant, which grows wild in the East Indies, and is cultivated, with
much advantage to the fruit, in Java and Malabar. The berries
are gathered before they are ripe, and are dried in the sun. They
become black and corrugated on the surface ; their taste is hot
and fiery, and their smell slightly aromatic.

Neumann got from 7680 parts 4800 watery, and afterwards
180 alcoholic extract ; and inversely, 1080 alcoholic and 3040
watery. The principle on which its pungency depends, was
soluble both in water and in alcohol, and was not volatile, for
7680 grains furnished about 150 of a very bland volatile oil.
From this analysis Dr. Thomson's differs remarkably. By ma-
cerating it in alcohol, and distilling the tincture, he got a green
volatile oil, having the whole flavour and pungency of the pep*
per. Besides this essential principle, he found it to contain an
extractive and starch.

Sp.$. White pepper is the fruit of the same plant gathered after
it is fully ripe, and freed of its external coat by maceration in
water. It is smooth on the surface, and less pungent than the
black pepper.

Sp. 3. Piper Cubeba.

Cubeta are brought from Java. This fruit has a great re*
semblance to black' pepper. The most obvious difference is,
that each cubeb is furnished with a long slender stalk, whence
they are called by some piper caudatum. In aromatic warmth
and pungency, cubebs are far inferior to pepper.

Neumann got from 060 grains, 310 alcoholic and 272 watery
extract ; and inversely, 380 watery and 61 alcoholic. It also
furnishes some volatile oil.

The warmth and pungency of these spices are said to reside
entirely in a resin ; their aromatic odour in an essential oil. In
medicine, they are sometimes employed as acrid stimulants ; but
their chief use is in cookery, as condiments.

MEDICAL USES.
All these different kinds of pepper contain an essential oil,
and fixed resinous and gummy principles, but the fiery acrid

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32 BLACK PEPFfefr.

particles seem principally to reside in the resinons parts : fot
Cartheuser observes, " that from a pound of black pepper a
drachm or two of essential oil may be obtained." Authors differ
about the exact quantity, «oine mentioning a drachm, others
three drachms ; and this essential oil, though it smeHs strongly
of the pepper, yet has but little acrimony ; and a watery in*
fusion, though it extracts a great quantity of gummy or
mucilaginous parts, three or fpur drachms from an ounce, yet
has little or no acrimony unless it carries some of the resinous
particles along with it : but a tincture drawn with the spirits,
though it extracts only about a drachm and a few grains from
an ounce, yet is so fiery and hot, that a few drops of it set
the mouth as it were in a flame ; and after this tincture is drawn,
whatever is obtained afterwards is always quite mild and inert.
To show how much the virtues of pepper lie in the resinons par-
ticles, if some black pepper be boiled in fresh parcels of wa*
ter, it will not have lost its flavour, but impart it to the water
even to the forty-third boiling.

We may here remark, that pepper, infused in water, impreg-
nates the menstruum pretty strongly with its flavour, but weakly
with its taste : by boiling for some time, a little more of its pin*
gent matter is extracted, and its flavour dissipated. On collect*
ing the fluid that exhales in the boiling, the water b found agree-
ably impregnated with the odour of the spice, but scarcely dis-
covers any taste : the essential oil, which rises to the surface of
the water, is thin, light, and limpid, with a strong agreeable
smell, and of a mild taste ; a drop or two on the tongue im-
prints only a moderate grateful warmth. On inspissating the
decoction, a part of the pungency of the pepper is found in tho
mucilaginous extract, for a larger part is retained by the pepper
itself.

The tincture, on the contrary, is extremely hot and fiery, a
few drops producing a most violent effect* Inspissated it leaves
an extract still more fiery. The quantity of the extract from both
{he black and white pepper is the same, but that from the white
fs weaker than from the other.

In fact, the common white pepper usually met wUh is spurious,
and only prepared from the black in the Indies. They steep the
black pepper-corns in sea water, exposed to the heat of the sun
for several days, till they find the aritlus, or outer coat, loose
on it ; this they remove, and it appears afterwards white. As

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BLACK PEPPER. S3

much of the acrid qualities of the pepper resides in this coat, it
is no wonder that the white pepper is found to-be the mildest of
the two.

Sir John Hill mentions, in hy ftjateria Medica, that there are
actually plants which produce a true white pepper, and that
the genuine fruit b sometimes imported to us ; but it is most pro-
bable, that this is only when the berries of the black pepper,
having become too ripe, drop upon the ground, and by a na-
tural process are deprived of their covering. It is to be
considered as an inferior kind j but is sold at treble the price of
the other.

Respecting pepper as a medicine,, it cannot be doubted that it
has a warm cordial effect upon the stomach : but as it does not
dispose the blood to attract more oxygen ; therefore it does not
inflame it, and hence accelerates not the circulation. But it in-
vigorates the powers of digestion, stimulates the fauces to pour
out an abundant supply of saliva, and the stomach the gastric
solvent, and finally tjie bowels to a better peristaltic motion.

It is mostly used as a corrective of the coldness and flatulence
of a vegetable diet^ and seems admirably suited for warm cli-
mates, where the food is laterally aqueous, and of a cold nature. t
Hence we use it with npost vegetables, especially eu cumbers and
peas. It serves as a condiment to fish. In gout, dropsy, rheuma-
tism, cold phlegmatic habits, the use of pepper is ad ?i sable, and
taken in a large dose is said to cure intcrmittents. In incipient
quinsies, before the tumour has broken, a bason of gruel well
seasoned with pepper, taken at bed-time, will resolve, it. The
free use of pepper comes naturally recommeuded in palsy.

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OFFICINAL VALERIAN, E.P.

VALERIANA OFFICINALIS, P. E.

WILD VALERIAN, L.P.

VALERIANA SYLVESTRIS, P.L.

Clou III. Triandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Embnt. Gar. Char. Calyx none : Corolla monopetaloos, gibbous on one

tide at the base, above.
8rac. Char. Flower$ bearing three stamina : Luna all pinnate.

DESCRIPTION.
This plant grows to three feet or more in height ; its leaves
stand in pairs, and are large, hairy, and of a dusky green, di-
vided down to the middle rib, so as to appear to be made up
of many small leaves affixed on the two sides of a stalk, or may
be said to be pinnate : the flowers stand in large tufts at the
tops of the branches, and are of a pale whitish red colour:
some of the species vary in the number of stamina, and are
succeeded each by a single seed winged with down.

HI8TORY.
This plant is perennial, and varies in its appearance and sensi-
ble qualities, according to the situation in which it grows. In

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OFFICINAL VALERIA*^ Sfc

marshes and shady places its leaves are broader, on dry heaths
and high pastures they are narrower. The roots produced m
low watery grounds have a remarkably faint smell in comparison
of the others, and sometimes scarcely any. The roots taken np
in autumn or winter hare also much stronger sensible qualities
than those collected in spring and summer.

The root Consists of a number of strings or fibres matted to*
gether, issuing from one common head, of a whitish or pale
brownish colour. # .

Its smell is strong, like a mixture of aromatic* with fetids J.
the taste unpleasantly warm, bitterish, and.subacrid.

Neumann got from 480 grains of the dry ropt 186 alcoholic:
and 74 watery extract; and inversely, 261 watery and 6 alco-
holic The distilled alcohol was slightly, the water strongly*
impregnated with the smell of die Valerian, but no separable
oil was obtained* • , .

MEDICINAL USE.

Wild Valerian is a medicine of great use in nenrous disorders,
and is particularly serviceable in epilepsies proceeding from a
debility of the nervous system. Some recommend it as pro-
curing sleep, particularly in fever, even when opium fails ; but
it is principally useful in affections of the hysterical kind.

The common dose is from a scrapie to a drachm in powder;
and in infusion, from one to two drachms. Its unpleasant fla-
vour is most effectually concealed by a suitable addition of mace.

As its virtues reside entirely in an essential oil, it should not
be exhibited ip decoction or watery extract.

So far the Edinburgh Dispensatory.

Valerian is supposed to be the <pa, Phu, of Dioscorides and
the ancients, from the Greek word <pv, abominable, on account
of its hprrjd smell ; although so extremely agreeable to cats^
that the labels in apothecaries' shops are scratphed off by them;
and it is said also to attract the rat.

Fabius Column a, an Italian nobleman, engaged in political
afairs, bad an epilepsy from his birth, which the physicians
were unable to cure. Being entirely worn out with the dis-
ease, he began the study of the ancient botanical writers, and
in his research found that it was cured by the Valerian root
Henee he began the trial, and was soon completely restored.
He became a famous botanical writer, illustrating his wort;

i>2

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55 OFFftJtKAL VAL*RlAIf.

tSA adtnlrable plates ; mid he mentions that by the sne meant
to had cared several others labouring under the same disease.
Me advise* to gather the root before -the time of flowering
to reditoe the same into powder, and take it in water, wine, or
nitk, on mx successive mornings, on an empty stomach ; whence
sweats will break out, and often the bowels will become relaxed j
which are excellent signs.

Dominions Panarolus, fifty years afterwards, reports that h#
cured three oases of epilepsy. To these may be added many
Other instances of good effects in this disease, published by
Cruger, Schnckman, Riverius, Sylvius, Marchant*, Chotnel^
Stowage, Tissot, and Ilaller.

Whytt, who joined its exhibition with manna, experienced
ifc good effect in epilepsy.

Fordyee recommends it- highly in hemkrania^ a pain affecting
one side of the head only.

Camerarius asserts that he found it very serviceable in jaun-
dice, also in asthma, in which latter disease he accompanied it
with a grain of opium.

Cullen mentions that it is serviceable in hysteric and other
spasmodic affections ; and where it failed of producing any good,
it arose from these disorders not being primary nervous a (fee*
tions, or from the badness of the drug f . Haller mentions also
his success in hysteria. Boerhaave pronounces that it is good
against all diseases of the thorax, stomach, and uterus, wonderfully
increasing the discharge from the latter, when too sparing, using
an ounce or two of the bruised root as tea, sweetened with,
honey : he likewise mentions that it b an excellent vermifuge.

He adds, that if the fresh leaves be bruised with wine and
applied to the parts, it is excellent in contusions; that thus it
dissipates scirrhous tumours without suppuration, aud, when
Suppuration has taken place, soon makes them heal ; hence the
common people always apply them in sordid ulcers.

Morgan relates, that mixed withguaiacum, even only outwardly
applied, it has a singular efficacy in glandular obstructions.

Applied outwardly, the leaves are said to strengthen the sight J,

* He used to give a drachm aud a half of the powder for a dose.

+ Being gathered after the sping season Wat putt.

$ Hatter relates that his tight was considerably amendrtf, which was
weak, and accompanied with motes flying before the sight in the left eye,
by taking three times a day, during fifteen days, two drachms of the powder
of Valerian.

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OFFICINAL VALERIAN. 37

and rcmoTc specks on the eyes (maculas oculornm abstergit);
and as an amulet there are^ people who think it successful against
the ague (adsunt auctores qui radicem pro amuleto febris quo*
tidianae habent, eamque collo in hunc finem suspendunt). Boer*
haave.

According to Boding, it is useful in tenesmus.

If we take the opposite side, Woodrille says that it has been
given in the extent of two ounces a day without effect, and
" from our own experience we are warranted in saying it will be
seldom found to answer the expectation of the prescriber."

As far as my practice has gone, I have found it successful in
several cases of epilepsy, and a good nervous medicine j and in
phthisis pulmonalis (consumption) a tea made of it for break*
fast has done considerably service. It merits yet a place in the
Materia Medica, but what rank remains to be explored. The
oil of Valerian deserves a trial in epilepsy, being said to hare
produced several extraordinary cures. *

PREPARATIONS.

The Royal London College direets only the following tine*
tures:

Tincture of Valerian. (Tinctura Valeriana.)
Take of wild Valerian root, grossly powdered, four ounces ;

proof spirit, two pints :

Digest with a gentle heat for eight days, and strain the tincture.

Volatile Tincture of Valerian. (Tinctura Valeriana)

volatilis.)
Take of wild Valerian root, four ounces ;

the compound spirit of ammonia, two pints :

Digest for eight days, and strain the tincture. The dose is half
a drachm to half an ounce, three times a day in any convenient
vehicle. In my formulae 1 am in the habit of ordering the pow-
der, tincture, and compound tincture, in the same mixture, with
the addition of the camphorated mixture.

Valerian is usef ally directed as an electuary thus :
Take of wild Valerian, in powder, one -ounce ;

syrup of orange peel, as much as is sufficient to make

an electuary, <*f whioh give one or two small tea-spoonfuls
three times aday in a glass *f simple peppermint water.

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SAFFRON.

CROCUS SATIVUS.

Clast III. Triandria. Order I. Monogynla.
jpssnrr. Gnu. Char. Corolla six-parted, equal : Stigmas c onvolute.
6pec. Chae. Spathe one-valve, radical: Corblla possessing a very long
tube*

ijESCltlPTIQN.
The root is a small bulb standing upon a larger, with a multi-
tude of fibres growing from the base. Four or five leaves arise
from the root, of a dark green, narrow, and grassy, about five
or six inches long ; from the same root arises a stalk four inches
high, sustaining a single flower resembling the Crocus. It has
three stamina with yellow anthers, and in the centre a long pis*
tillum, which at top divides into three cristated fleshy capilhu
ments of an orange colour, which is the part used in medicine.
HISTORY.
The Crocus Sativus* is a bulbous-rooted perennial plant, pro.

• It is a doubt how this merits the title of 8aiivus, when its propagation
is by the offsets from the root, the seeds hardly ever arriving at perfection!
—unless by sativus is meant cultivated.

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SAFFBOtf. 99

bably a native of the East, although it is now found wild ia
England and other temperate countries of Europe. It is very
generally cultivated as an ornament to our gardens, and in some
places for the Saffron, which is formed of the dried summits of
the pistil. Each flower has one pistil, the summit of which is
deeply divided into three slips, which are of a dark orange-red
colour, verging to white at the base, and are smooth and shining*
Their smell is pleasant and aromatic, but narcotic ; their taste a
fine aromatic bitter, and they immediately give a deep yellow
colour to the saliva when chewed. The flowers are gathered
early in the morning, just before they open ; the summits of the
pistils are picked out, very carefully dried by the heat of. a
stove, and compressed into firm cakes *• The English Saffron
jt superior to what is imported from other countries, and may
jfe distinguished by its blades being broader. On the continent
.they reckon the Austrian and the French from Gatioois the best
Th* Spanish is rendered useless by being dipt in oil, with the
sntedtfon of preserving it Saffron should be chosen fresh, not
above a year old, in close cakes, neither dry, nor yet very
moist; tough and firm in tearing ; difficultly pulverizable ; of a
fiery orange-red colour within as well as without; of a strong,
acrid, diffusive smell ; and capable of colouring a very large pro-
portion of water or alcohol. Saffron which does not colour the
fingers when rubbed between them, or stains them with oil, has
little smell or taste, or a musty or foreign flavour, is too tender,
and, if it has a whitish, yellow, or blackish colour, is bad. It is

• The Saffron in England is chiefly cultivated in Cambridgeshire, and at
a place called from that circumstance Saffron Walden. In the autumn
when the flowers appear, they are gathered every morning, and sjpread
upon a table ; the stigmata, along with a portion of the style, are then
picked, and the rest of the flower thrown away as useless. The stigmata
being thus collected in sufficient quantity are then dried, which is effected
by means of portable kilns, of a peculiar construction, over which a hair
doth is stretched ; and upon this are placed a few sheets of white paper, on
which the stigmata are strewed, about two or three inches thick, and then
covered with several sheets of paper, over which is laid a coarse blanket,
1hc or six times folded, or a canvass bag filled with straw ; and when the
fire has heated the kiln, a board, on which a weight is put, is placed upon
the blanket in order to press the Saffron into a cake. For the first hour a
pretty strong fire is employed ; the Saffron is then found to be formed into
m cake, which, after being turned, is subjected for another hour to the same
degree of heat : it is then turoed a second time, and a more gentle heat is
applied for about twenty-four hours, or till the cake becomes dry, during
which time it is turned every half-hour.

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40 , SAFFRON.

*aid that it ts sometimes adulterated with flie fibres of smoked
beef, And with the flowers of the carthamus tine tortus, calen-
dula officinalis, &c. The imposition may be detected by the ab«
sence of the white ends, which may be observed in the real Saf-
fron, by the inferior colouring power, and by the want of smell,
Or Unpleasant siriell when thrown on live coals.

By distillation with water Saffron furnishes a small proportion
6f essential oil, of a golden yellow colour, heavier than water,
and possessing the characteristic smell in an eminent degree.
According to Hermbstaedt, the soluble matter of Saffron is ex-
tractive nearly pure, Neumann obtained from 480 dried Saffron
£60 grains of watery extract which was soluble in alcohol, except
$4 of a colourless matter like saud, and afterwards 20 of alco-
holic ; and inversely, 320 of alcoholic extract entirely soluble
in water, and then 90 of watery.

On account of the great volatility of the aromatic part of the
Saffron it should be wrapt up in bladder, and preserved in a
box or tin case.

MEDICAL USE.

Saffron is a very elegant aromatic ; besides the virtues which
it has in common with all the bodies of that class, it has been
alleged that it raises the spirits, and in large doses occasions im-
moderate mirth, involuntary laughter, and the other effects which
follow from the abuse of spirituous liquors. It is said to be
particularly serviceable in hysteric depressions, or obstructions
of the uterine secretions, where Other aromatics, even those of
the more generous kind, have little effect But the experiments
of Dr. Alexander, and Dr. H. Cullen, show that it is much lest
powerful than was once imagined ; so that of late the estimation
in which it was held as a medicine has been on the decline.

Such is the judicious account of -this drug in the Edinburgh
New Dispensatory ; and we agree with them, that it must rather
be considered as an adjuvant, than as possessing any very powerful
virtues.

Dr. Cullen is of the same sentiment Although the sensible
qualities of this substance, says this veteran practitioner, are
pretty considerable, yet it appears to us to possess no other
power than simply being an aromatic.

Rhazes confirms our opinion, for he relates giving from two
to three drachms at a time with safety ; and EtmuHer tells us of
the people in some parts of Poland using it as a condiment, con-
suming an ounce of it at a time.

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BAPFBON. 41

From tile experiments of Dr. Alexander it would seem that
Saffron poesjesees bat very little active powers, and may be taken
in considerable quantities without producing any remarkable
effect ; and it was but lately given at the Edinburgh Infirmary,
by Dr. Henry Cullen, even to the extent of half an ounce a day,
in several hysterical cases, without any sensible effect whatever*

It is asserted by Diosoorides and Avicenna, that taken to the
extent of three drachms it is a deadly poison ; and the great
Boerhaave gives it the following most extraordinary character :

u Hsc planta est cordialis, aromatica, pectoral is, anodyna,
hypnotica, alexiterica, et aperiens ; nam habet vires integre dis-
sotvendi sanguinem; et vidi foeminas deffuxiBse ab usu nimio croci
per menstrua, et viros per haemorrhagiam narium ; dein quoque
homines reddit ebrios : sic vidi casum, in quo medicus dederat
viro morbo melancholico haboranti crocum nimis magni copii,
qui inde in delirium per pefuum cum risu incidit, et ille non
nisi aceto cnrabatur : hinc debemus nos abstinere a nimio Usu
hujus herbs : verum si defectus sit spirituum, si dissolvendi ha.
mores, si bilis iners, ejusqae defectus est supplendus, turn quidem
cam prudentia crocus datus convenit, aliter nocet : in a^thmate
tamen convulsivo, tussi dyspnoea, phtnisi, roboraodo et exhila.
rando corde, in mensium, lochiorum et foetus remora, et ictero
conducit: frontalibus admotus phrenitidem, maniam et cepha.
kdgiam a frigido ortam toltit; in syncope et palpitatione cordis
externe ventriculo applicatus eum roborat, membris paralytioii
et indnratis impositus mire discutit ; crocus in aqua rosarum in.
fusus prodest in variolis ad oculos lavandos. Hate planta etiam
conducit in colica."

" This plant is cordial, aromatic, pectoral, anodyne, hypno.
tic, alexiteric, and aperient. It possesses the power of wholly
dissolving the blood ; and I have seen women go into decline, by
the too liberal use of Saffron, owing to their immoderate menses;
and men by the loss of blood from the nose : it moreover renders
people intoxicated, a case of which kind I saw, from the phy.
sician giving to a hypochondriac too great a quantity of Saffron,
which produced a continued delirium with laughter, and he was
cured only by an acid. Hence the necessity of caution in the
use of this remedy. But if there be a defect of animal spirits,
if the humours be thick, and the bile inactive, and this is to be
altered, then it is proper to employ Saffron, otherwise it injures.
In convulsive asthma, cough with difficulty of breathing, phthisis,
for strengthening and exhilarating the heart, where there is delay

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42 8AFPE0N.

in prodacing the menses, lochia, or fcetns, and in jaundice, it
is beneficial. Applied to the forehead it has removed phrensy,
mania, and headach, arising from a cold phlegmatic habit; in
syncope and palpitation of the heart, externally applied, it hat
strengthened these ; applied on paralytic and hardened limbs, it
has wonderfully confirmed them ; and, mixed with rose water, it
has benefited bad eyes in the small-pox. It has also been found
of service in the colic."

I could mention other virtues : Homerus (Iliad. £• ver. 347),
describens concubitum Jovis et Junonis, tellurem finxit produx.
isse varios flores venereos, et inter hos crocum.— Hoffman. But
to use the words of the poet,

Nee poteris croci dotes numerare, nee usus.
Its many imaginary virtues*!!

PREPARATIONS.

The Royal London College have thought fit only to order a
syrup.

Syrup of Saffron. (Syrupus Croci.)

Take of Saffron, an ounce ;

boiling distilled water, a pint :

Macerate for twelve hours in a close vessel, and dissolve the
sugar in a strained liquor.

The dose is from two to three drachms in some cinnamon
water, or camphorated mixture.

* Although I shall often have occasion to ridicule the supposed virtues
of many plants, whose effects are so frequently exaggerated, and which
oftentimes do not exist, still I could wish rather that we should enlarge
than curtail our short list of medical plants. Respecting the power of
Saffron to produce immoderate laughter in those who take it, Amatus says
in Dioscorides, VidTmus mercatorem, qui cum plures croci sarculas emisset,
multum ex illo in ollam, carnes jurulentas pro ccena continentem injecisset,
post earum esum, in tam intensum et vehementem risum incidisse, ut non
multum abfuerit quin risu et cachinno e vita discessertt.

Hoffman gives us himself an instance. Nos, ait, nobilem foeminam Tri-
denti vidimus, horarum circiter trium spatio, immodico risu concuti. Du-
bium non est, se plus croei sumsisse mortua esset, p. 201.

It is remarkable that a tincture drawn with strong spirits, and evapo-
rated to the consistence of honey, appears smooth like oil, and yet mixes
easily with water without precipitation; therefore it must abound with
some saline matter, which makes all its parts so easily mix with water and
with spirits. This merits trial. Boerhaave reports that he used the extract.
Should not this also be tried as well as its fragrant essential oil ?

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FLORENTINE IRIS.

IRIS FLORENTINE

Clou IIL Triandria* Order I. Monogynia*
Etonrr. Gbh. Char. Corolla six-parted; the alternate petals. reflexes

Stigma* petal-form.
Sfet. Cbak. Corolla barbed s alternate petals reflexed : Leaves cruciform,

snooty shorter than the scape.

DESCRIPTION.

1 nis plant has }t$ leaves grassy and flag-shaped, and its flowers
formed of three upright petals and three expanded reflexed petals,
having the pistillum with a petaloid stigara, artfully concealing
the three stamina.

HISTORY.

This » a perennial plant, a native of the south of Europe*
The dried root is imported from Italy. It is white, flatfish,
knotty, and has a very slightly bitter taste, and an agreeable
smell resembling that of violets.

Neomann got from 480 parts, 77 alcoholic and afterwards
100 watery extract; and inversely, 180 watery and 8 alcoholic.
The distilled water smells a little of the root, but exhibits no
appearance of oil. It is chiefly used as a perfume.

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44 FLOReiCTlNE IRIS.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

Sir John Hill says, that the Florentine or dry Iris root if
an attenuant and expectorant : it excellently thins the tough
phlegm adhering to the bronchia, and renders it easily discharged.
It is given with success in asthmas, difficulty of breathing, and
many other disorders of the breast and lungs. The dose is from
ten to fifteen grains in powder ; but it is not often given alone,
as might be wished, though it is an almost constant ingredient *
in compositions with these intentions.

Dr. Cullen says, What this root might do in its recent and
acrid state, I cannot determine.; but in the dried state, in which
we commonly have it in our shops, we are persuaded of its being
a very insignificant expectorant.

We shall therefore hasten to consider our own Water Flag.

Respecting our Yellow Water Flag (Iris Pseudacorus), a plant
very common in marshes and by the aides of rivers, and ren.
dered veiy conspicuous by its large yellow flowers, which ap-
pear in July, it formerly had a place in the London Pharma-
copoeia, under the name of Gladiolus luteus, bat has been since
wmined.

MEDICAL VIRTU ES.

Unwilling to diminish the number of the few weapons physi-
cians have to combat disease with, let us examine a little into the
real or supposed merits of this plant.

The juice is excessively acrid in all its parts; and some of it
being applied to a carious tooth, will instantly remove the sensi-
bility, and thus cure the toothache.

The juice of the root being snuffed up the nostrils produces
a burning sensation in those parts, acts as -a most powerful
sternutatory, and operates in a most violent way, bringing down
a quantity of water ; and hi this way it lias cured complaints of
the head, of long standing, in a remarkable manner.

The expressed juice is also found to be an useful application
to serpiginous eruptions and scrophulous tumours*

But its chief employment is in dropsies. Brassavola says that
be has cured ascites by giving -even to three ounces of its juice ;
and Sydenham, who gave along, with it half an ounce of creaat
of tartar, approves of this remedy.

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FLORBIfTITtE IBIS* 45

I* the Medical Essays, vol. r. p. 94, there Is a* case related
where all the asoal remedies had failed, and this produced a cure*
« By tiak tkae the strongest cathartics, such as jalap, gamboge,
mercury, &c. were quite ineffectual ; whereupon Dr. Rutherford
ordered eighty drops of the root of the Yellow Flag to be given
every hour or two in a little syrup of buckthorn, which had a
very immediate effect, making the man pass several Scots pints
of water by stool that very night"

Might not this be an useful remedy, like some other acrid
marsh plants, against worms ? But given in small doses, accord-
ing to Blair's Observations, p* 78, it has been successful in di-
arrhoeas ; and according to Christian Lange it is an excellent
stomachic And we must allow that the root is a powerful astrin-
gent, being used instead of galls in making ink in Scotland (vide
Pennant's Tour), and ateo for dyeing of black.

Old Gerapde seems to have had a tolerably fair knowledge of
the virtues of this discarded plaet.

1. The root of the common floure-de-laee clean e washed, and
stamped with a few drops of rose water, and laid plaisterwise
vpon the face of man or woman, doth in two daies at the most
take away the blacknesse or blewnesse of any stroke or bruse ;
so that if the skinne of the same woman, or any other person,
be very tender and delicate, it shall be needful 1 that ye lay a
piece of silke, sindall, or a piece of fine laune betweene the
plaister and the skinne, for otherwise in such tender bodies it
often causeth heat and inflammation.

2. The juice of the same doth not onely mightily and vehe*
men tly draw forth choler, but most especially watery humors ;
and is a sped all and singular purgation for them that haue the
dropsie, if it be drunke in whay, or some other liquor, that may
somewhat temper and alay the heate.

3. The dry roots attenuate or make thtnne thicke and tough
humours, which are hardly and with difficultie purged away.

4. They are good in a loch or licking medicine, for shortnesse
of breath, an old cough, and all infirmities of the chest which*
rise hereupon.

5. They remedie those that have euill spleenes, and those that
are troubled with convulsions, or cramps, biting of serpents,
and the running of the reines, or gonorrhoea, being drunke with
vinegre, as saith Dioscorides ; and drunke with wine it bringetb
do woe the mooethly courses of women.

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46 FLORENTINE IRI8.

6. Being boyled very soft, and laid plaisterwise, it mollifleth
and softneth the king's-evil, and old hard swellings.

7. The roots of our ordinarie Flags are not, as Dodooseng
affirms, cold and dry in the third degree, nor yet in the second ;
but hot and dry, and that at least in the second degree, as any
that thoroughly taste them will confess. Neither are the facul-
ties and vse (as some would persuade us) to be neglected ; for, as
Pena and Lobel affirme, it is much to be preferred before the
Galanga major, or forreine Acorus of the shops, for it imparts
more heat and strength to the stomach. It binds, strengthens,
and condenses ; hence it is good in the bloody flux, and stales
the courses.

I must take my leave of this plant, by observing, that the
juice of the fresh root only should be used, and that an ok!
plant has most virtues in it It might prove a dangerous remedy
in incautious hands, but is said, when mixed with milk, to act
in the mildest manner* '

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SUGAR-CANE.

SACCHARUM OFFICINARUM.

Class III. Trlandria. Order II. Digynia.
Euext. Gen. Char. Calyx two-ralved, involucred with down: CorolU

two-valved.
Spbc. Char. Flowers in panicles : Leaves flat.

Sugar is a hard but brittle substance, of a white colour, dis-
posed to form semi-transparent crystallizations, of a sweet taste,
and without smell. When heated sufficiently it melts, is de-
composed, emits a very peculiar smell, and becomes inflamed.
Sugar at 40° is soluble in its own weight of water, and in still
less at 212*. It is also soluble in about four parts of boiling al-
cohol. It combines with volatile oils, and renders them miscible
with water. It also unites with potass and lime. It is decom-
posed by the concentrated sulphuric and nitric acids. According
to Lavoisier's experiments, it consists of 71*76 oxygen, 17*89

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48 SVGAR-CAXE.

carbon, and 10*35 hydrogen ; or, according to the original cal-
culation, of 64 oxygen, $8 charcoal, and 8 hydrogen.

Sugar is obtained from the Sugar-cane by boiling down its
expressed juice, with the addition of a certain proportion of lime
or potass, until the greater part is disposed to concrete into
brownish or yellowish crystalline grains. The time or potass is
added to saturate some malic acid, whose presence impedes the
crystallization. The molasses, or that portion of the inspissated
juice which does not crystallize, is separated from the raw sugar,
which is sent to Europe to be refined. This is performed by
dissolving it in water, boiling the solution with lime water, cla-
rifying it with blood or white of eggs, and straining it through
woollen bags. The solution, after due evaporation, is permitted
to cool to a certain degree, and then poured into conical forms
of unglazed earthen ware, where it concretes into a mass of irre-
gular crystals. The syrip whicfi has not crystallized runs off
through a hole in the apex of the cone. The upper or broad
end of the cone is then covered with moist clay, the water of
which gradually penetrates into the sugar, and displaces a quan-
tity of syrup, which would otherwise be retained in it, and dis-
colour it. It is then carefully dried, and gets the name of loaf
or lump sugar. When the solution and other steps of the pro-
cess are repeated, the sugar is said to be double refined. Sugar
is sometimes made to assume a more regular form of crystalliza-
tion, by carrying the evaporation only a certain length, and
then permitting the syrup to cool slowly. In this form it is
called brown or white sugar-candy } according to the degree of its
purity.

Raw sugar varies very much in quality. It should be dry,
Crystallized in large sparkling' grains, of a whitish or clear yellow
colour, without smell, and of a sweet taste without any peculiar
flavour.

RcGned sugar should have a brilliant white colour, and a close
compact texture. It should be very hard, but brittle, and break
with sharp, semi-transparent, splintery fragments.

MEDICAL P8E.

Sugar, from being a luxury, has now become one of the ne-
cessaries of life. In Europe sugar is almost solely used as a
condiment. But it is also a very wholesome and powerful ar-
ticle of nourishment; for during crop time, the negroes in the

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StTOAft-CANE. 49

West Indies, notwithstanding their increased labours, always*
grow fat It b in this way also that its internal employment is
useful in some diseases, as in sea scurry ; for sugar produces no
particular effect as a medicine, except that the coarser and im-
pure kinds are slightly purgative. Applied externally it acts as
aa cscharotic in spongy and unhealthy granulations; and to
abraded or inflamed surfaces it proves gently stimulant In
pharmacy it is principally employed to cover bad tastes, to giro
form to, and to preserve, more active substances. In using it
for the last purpose, we must always remember that, if the pro-
portion of sugar employed be too small, it will promote instead
of retard the fermentation of the articles it was intended to pre*
serve.

Molasses or treacle is a very impure syrup. It is thick, vis-
cid, of a dark brown, almost black colour, and has a peculiar
smell, and a sweet, somewhat empyreumatic taste.

HISTORY.

The Sugar-cane is a native of Africa and Lower Asia, as the
East Indies and Arabia Felix ; it is also said to grow sponta-
neously in the West Indies ; but others assert that it was there
unknown until introduced by the Europeans.

Labat, vol. i. p. 226, is decidedly of opinion that the Sugar-
cane is a native plant of the West Indies. But he says* it is to
the Portuguese and Spaniards that Europeans are indebted for
the art of making sugar, who learned the secret from the inha-
bitants of the East Indies, and returning thence put it in prac-
tice, first at the island of Madeira and the Canaries, and after-
wards in the Brazils and New Spain, about the end of the year
1680.

Sugar, when first introduced into every country, was used
only medicinally. Pliny leaves no room for doubt on this point
Even in Arabia, in Avicenna's time, though sugar was an article
of commerce from the East, there is no record of its being used
in dietetic or culinary purposes for several centuries after.

MEDICAL USES.

Sugar was employed originally to render unpleasant and nau-
seating medicines grateful to the sick, especially to children ; and
for syrups, electuaries, and conserves.

As might be expected with every thing new, when sugar be-

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09 *iraA*HM*B,

fame used fun di^t as well as medicine it met with Ac most vio-
lent opposition.

Ooctfr Tbeophilos Gareaaaras, who wrote in 1*47, speaking
pf sugar, declares,-*-

" Sugar and all kinds of sweetmeats are very hurtful in cosu
gumption of the lungs ; and, u I conceive, the so frequent ow
of these things tends much to create that diseafe; awl k is not
to be wondered at that consumptiv e complaints are so common
in England*

" In iflsptet so the predominant quality of sugar, I contend
that it is heating, although hidden; and, as a proof it, iteidtes
thiflU

" This heating quality of sugar renders it not a little injurious
to the long*, wfcich aie in themselves very hot; moderately cool-
ing things are therefore most agroeaMe to their nature, but heat*
ing tilings easily inflame them.

" But the most important consideration is, that sugar is not
only injurious to the lungs in its temperament and composition,
lint also in ife ettfre property; which, I believe, no sensible
person will deny : when, from its excessive sweetness, it is dia-
metrically opposite to the bitter principle, it must follow, if
bitter things, according to universal suffrage, absorb and deterge
superfluous humours, expel putremotioa, and preserve bodies
found for a great while, that sweet things, from their opposite
sjuaittjnS) must be the fruitful parent of putresoence ; and which
must necessarily be more active in their effects when a part U
attack*! net endowed with the power of concoction, and from
Kbich afterwards it is not possible to remove the disease.

" It is certain there is no fermentation, or very little, pro*
duced between things which agree in their qualities, as sugar
and flesh* on aeoount of the sweetness and balsamic quality of
sugar and the sweet essence of flesh, which assimilate with each
other ; for, if a piece of raw meat be put in sugar, it soon be*
fomes putrid, qaless the sugar should have been first boiled until
all its sweetness is consumed, and it has acquired a bitterness ;
but 4rhen the meat is put into salt, it will be kept from putrefy,
ing for a great length of time, from that property in the salt
Which is acrid, and the balsam of the meat which is sweet, causing
a kind of fermentation from the opposition of their qualities;
after which fermentation a certain new temperament arises.

" The sjnje also appears in sugar, which, though it so soon

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A7GAR4CAXB. $1

rupts flesh, yet Mrill preserve acid fruib from puftrefactiofi
for a long time 5 because its sweetness ferments with the acidify
or sharpness of the fruits, from which a new uniform tempurei.
meot is produced.

u In confirmation of the preceding observations, it is not to
£e omitted, that in the island of Saint Thomas, under the tquai
tor, the inhabitants feed their bogs with canes, and the refuse
of the cane- juice; from which they are said to fatten, and ac-
quire sueh wonderful tenderness, that their flesh equals in good-
Bees the Spanish kids, and is commonly given to people with
weak stomachs, on account of ks easiness of digestion.

" From hence we may infer, that if sagar possesses the power
suad property of converting hog's flesh, the toughest almost of
nay animal's, to so great a degree of tpsderaess, for the same
reason it must accelerate the decay and sphacelation of the lungt^
when they are of such a soft and spongy substance as tb require
styptics and astringents to preserve them.

" It is therefore dearer than the light that sugar is not a nou-
rishment, but an evil ; not a preservative, but a destroyer ; and
esuKiid be sent back to the Indies, before the discovery of which,
probably, consumption of the lungs was not known, but brought
to us with these fruits of our enterprise/'

Willis, who wrote in 1674, say*,-—

*' I so muck condemn all things that are preserved with sugar,
or have much sugar mixed with them, that I consider the iuvpna
lion and immoderate use of it, in this present age, to hare very
much contributed to the imjnense increase of the scurvy.

" For it plainly appears, by the chemical analysis of sugary
tjiat this concrete consists of an acrid and corrosive salt, but
tempered with a portion of sulphur.

" Sugar, distilled by itself, yields a liquor scarcely inferior to
aquafortis ; but, if it be diluted plentifully with water, and then
dtetiHed, although no fixed salt will ascend, yet there will come
a liquor like the sharpest brandy, hot, and highly pungent.

" Therefore it is very probable, that mixing sugar with almost
ntt our food, and taken to so great a degree, from its daily nee,
readers the blood and humours salt and acrid, and consequently
ecorbutie,

" A certain eminent author* attribute the cause of the fre*

* Garencieret.
E2

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8& ITJGAH-CAKn.

quencyof consumptions of the lungs, in England, to the immo-
derate use of sugar. I am not certain whether also the fomes of
the increasing scurry may not rather be derived from thence."

Ray, who wrote in 1689, says,—

" The physicians who lived in the last century, with unani-
mous consent recommend sugar for complaints in the lungs,
hoarseness, cough, rawness of the throat, and internal ulcenu
tions : yet, among us in England, not long since, it began to
be accused, and to labour under great discredit, by our own as
well as foreign physicians, who impute the ravages which the
•curvy and consumption have lately made in England to the im-
moderate use of sugar in our food and drinks.

" No person should therefore attribute these evils to the
moisture of the atmosphere ; for, they say, that in Portugal,
where the air is warm, consumption of the lungs is there epi-
demic, from the same cause ; as the Portuguese use more sugar
than any people, except the EngKsh*

" In regard to the scurvy, the same more ancient physicians,
as well as those of later times, agree, that it is produced by the
too great use of sugar; and that it b very hurtful to the teeth,
and not only renders them black, but causes them to decay, and
to loosen in their sockets, and to fall out ; which are certain
signs and symptoms of scurvy.

" Sugar also contains an acid and very corrosive salt, which
appears from distillation.

" The scurvy is caused by a redundant fixed salt in the blood,
and is therefore cured by such things as abound with a volatile
salt"

Opposed to these, we have not wanted those who have amply
vindicated the effect of sugar.

Slare says, — " I have a strong and home argument to recom-
mend the use of sugar to infants ; of which to defraud them is
a very cruel thing, if not a crying sin. The argument I bring
from Nature's first kind tribute, or intended food for children
so soon as they are born ; which is, that fine juice or liquor
prepared in the mother's breasts, called breast*milk, of a fine
delicate sweet taste. This sweet is somewhat analogous, or a
taste agreeable, to sugar ; and, in want of this milk, it is well
known, sugar is brought to supply it You may soon be con-
vinced of the satisfaction which a child has from the taste of
sugar, by making two sorts of water-paps, one with, and the

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SUGAR-CANE, 53\

other without, sugar ; they will greedily suck down the one, andT
make faces at the other. Nor will they be pleased with cow's
milk, unless that be blessed with a little sugar, to bring it to
the sweetness of breast-milk.

" I will set down an experiment I had from a friend. He.
was a little lean man, who used to drink much wine in company
of strong drinkers. I asked him how he was able to bear it.
He told me that he received much damage in his health, and was
apt to be fuddled, before he used to dissolve sugar in his wine ;
from that time he was never sick nor inflamed, nor fuddled with
wine. He usually drank red wine.

" I made use of sugar myself in red wine, and I found the
Eke good effect ; that it prevents heating my blood, or giving
my head any disturbance, if I drink a larger portion than or*
dinary.

u I allow about two ounces of sugar to a pint of wine, and
dare assert that this proportion will take off the heating quality
of wine in a good measure ; and, after one has some time used
himself to add sngar to his wine, he will be pleased with the
taste, and feel the comfortable and cordial virtue of this com.
position.

" Let those that are thin, and apt to have hot hands and;
heated brains upon drinking wine, and cannot abstain or be ex* .
cosed from drinking, take notice of this counsel, and try it for
some time ; and they will be pleased with the delicious taste, and
salubrious effects, of this saccharine addition." — Vindication of
Sugars, anno 1715.

The learned Dr. Moseley has lately very ably vindicated this
article, used as diet, and for medicine, in a most elaborate.
" Treatise on Sugar*." We will sum up his arguments in this
place.

" When we consider that the saccharine principle is the soul
of vegetable creation, and see how sparingly it is diffused through
the general productions of the earth, and how little is collected
from the wide range of flowers, by the consummate skill of the
laborious bee ; or from roots, trees, fruit, and grain, by the
chemk art ; we cannot but admire the partiality of Nature to
the luscious cane, her favourite offspring, the sublimest effort
of heat and light.

• TWs Treatise Is one of the very best monographs we possess.

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Hit fitfGAR-CAirft.

u The proportion of sugar to the cane-julee depends on the
quality of the cane. We consider a pound of sugar from a
gallon of cade-juice, as good yielding \ and three hogsheads of
sugar, of 14 cwt. each, from an acre of land, as ample produce*
Bui for this quantity the soil muat be good, add the cades of
the first year's cutting, and in perfection.
• " In the process of refining mnscovadq sugar, a ton weight, of
good quality, gives the following products:

<»wt. q. lb.
Dduble and single refined sugar * 9 I 5-fa
Ficce ditto - - -----400

Scale, or bastard ditto - - . . 2 0 0
M classes, or treacle -----4 124

Scam and dirt .------01 Of}

90 0 0

" That sugar is nutritious in the most eminent degree has been
long known. It is the basis of all vegetable nutrition.

" Every root and earthly production is nutritious in propor.
tion to the saccharine principle it contains. Nothing nourishes
that is entirely free from this saccharine principle; otherwise
turnips would be as little nutritive as cucumbers, being, like
them, tile sugar excepted, scarcely any thing but water.

" Milk is nutritions on the same account, and that milk is most
nutritious which most abounds with saccharine sweetness ; arid
when milk is defective in this quality, from bad pasturage and
other causes, our vegetable sugar should be added to it, to re-
medy such defect

" In all cases sugar helps the assimilation of milk in the sto-
mach, and not only prevents its curdling, and disordering that
organ, but corrects the tendency which milk has to injure the
breath, by adhering to the teeth and gums, and rendering them
foul and offensive.

" There are many people to whom a milk diet would be a great
convenience and gratification ; and there are some habits of body
and disorders wherein it would often be of the utmost utility ;
but the stomach frequently is unable to bear it Here sugar is
{he only means to reconcile the disagreement

" A learned and worthy relation of mine, having been much
afflicted with the gout, and having seen the good effects of a

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S96Aft*0A*I* U

milk dM In sisHiar cam to Ms own, wished to hart recourse M
it in the same manner, and make it a principal part of Ms tftttU
tettaaoe j bat he could not. It curdled, and became soar, fcetfry,
atftd disgusting in kin rtomuefc. He was always tery fond of
milk, but never could use it without iocotrreaicftee, eten Whetf
lie was a boy*

" However, on reading the former edition of tb& work, to
was determined to hare another trial of m»k, wtth the addifiett
ef some saga?. This soeeeeied, and ha now makes two meals
orery day entirely on milk and bread, with great pleasure anrf
comfort, and with infinite advantage to In* health.
• " As mMk has the property of injuring the teeth, and i* muctt
asad in schools, and constitutes great part of the sustenance of
most young people, a tooth-brush and water shoals! always bo
employed; or at least the month should be weU rinsed wMt
water, after a fatal made of milk.

" No modern physicians hare noticed this ; but the ancient*
were well acquainted with the Injurious effects of mtlk on the
teeth and gums*.

" In regard to sugar belag prejadiejal to the teeth, Ail hat

Jong been known as a prudent old woman's bugbear to frighten?

ebUdranv that they might not follow thettf natural fodfciatidn,

by sekiog opportaaMee^ when they are not watched* of devour-

lag all the sugar they can find.

" Thia story has had a good effect among the common people*
in Seothm*. They are impressed with a notion that sitteeties
hart the tooth ; therefor* they lire contented without an artiele
sot always wkhfcs the coarpass of their inaftce*

" Slare, and many others, used Mgar as a principal ingredient
la tooth powders. It is a component part of many pastes, and
ether dentifrices ; and what the French call ajMiato, for the pre*
serration of the teeth and guars.

" When milk is not the sole diet of children at thef* toother'*

• P. M^melm, m. i. c. 86.— Lac aiagite§ H eentes Isadit. Qaara pom
ipenm acceptum, prunum aqua nolsa, deinde viae adstring ente, os coUftere
oportet.

OribatK a tiateno Medlcln. Collect, lib. Si. c. 59. — Minim in modura
aws lactii freqnens dentes et gingivaa UadU, nam gingiva* flaccidaB, dertet
putrefaction! et erotfooi obnoxios facit : ergo sumpto lacte, ot rino dilotd
i est i erit ettam atcomniodathB si met eidem adjicias.

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96 •UGAB-CANE.

breast, sugar, in rations mixtures and vehicles, makes the chief
portion, essentially, of their support

" Sugar affords great nourishment, without oppressing their
tender powers of digestion. The nutritive principle of their na-
tural food is thus happily imitated*

" Sugar does not create worms in children, as has been often
said ; on the contrary, it destroys worms. Some writers hate
mentioned this* ; but my authority is my own observation.

" In the West Indies, the negro children, from crude vegeta-
ble diet, are much afflicted with worms. In crop-time, when
the canes are ripe, these children are always sucking them*
Give a negro infant a piece of Sugar-cane to suck, and the im-
poverished milk of his mother is tasteless to him. This salubrious
luxury soon changes his appearance. Worms are discharged ;
bis enlarged belly and joints diminish ; his emaciated limbs in-
crease; and, if canes were always ripe, he would never be dis*
eased.

. " I have often seen, old, scabby, wasted negroes crawl from the
hot-houses, apparently half dead, in crop-time; and by sucking
canes all day long, they have soon become strong, fat, and
aleaky.

" The restorative power of sugar in wasted and decayed ha-
bits, is recorded by several physicians in different parts of the
world. I have known many people far advanced in pulmonary
consumption, recovered by the juice of the Sugar-cane.

" A friend of mine, a clergyman in Shropshire, has favoured
me with a very interesting account of a cure performed by the
use of sugar, in such a diseased state of the lungs as is generally
denominated a complete consumption.

" The case is curious ; and I shall recite as much of it as is
necessary to the fact* The patient is a gentleman, and a neigh?
bour of my frien<). fie had been attended by two eminent phy-
sicians, who had given up the case as incurable. He then applied
to the late doctor James, who ordered one paper of his powder
to be divided into eight parts, and one part to be taken every
other night, diluting with strong green tea. After being a week
under this treatment, he was taken out of hb bed every morning
between nine and ten o'clock, and, supported by two persons,

• Act. Med. Lcip. anno 1700.

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SttGAE-CANE. 57

wis hurried along the garden- walk, when the weather was fine,
which broaght on expectoration and retching; when the op-
pression from his lungs was removed by these operations, he
was put into his bed again, and had a tea-cupful of milk-warm
mutton broth given him ; this excited a gentle perspiration, and
pleasant sleep. He was allowed calves' feet, chicken, fish, and
a glass or two of Port wine. This was James's practice. The
patient thought himself benefited by it He was at this time so
redaced that he kept his bed upwards of two months, not being
able to stand, nor even to sit upright in a chair, without sup-
port ; his cough was violent, with bloody purulent spitting, fever,
and profuse and sudden night sweats. He was then twenty-six
years of age.

" His disorder originated from sleeping with his bed-room
window open, in the month of June 1770 ; and increased to an
alarming degree by the month of August; and in March 1771
the above physicians gave over all hopes of his recovery. These
things premised, I shall give the gentleman's own words, in an-
swer to some particulars stated to him, by my desire.

44 < I did not take to the use of sugar until I was reduced to
so weak a condition as to be unable to take any thing else.
Sugar was never prescribed for me by any physician ; but being
very thirsty, from the fever,. I had a great inclination for spring
water, which I was not permitted to have^ by the affectionate
relative who nursed me, without some muscovado sugar, a little
ginger, and a piece of toasted bread in it I soon became ex-
tremely fond of the saccharine taste, and used to sweeten the
water to excess. I did not take it as a medicine, nor confine
myself to any specific quantity, but always used it when my ap-
petite or inclination seemed to require it However, I at length
used it in a considerable quantity ; some days, to the amount,
I believe, of eight ounces ; and that, with the small portion of
toasted bread put into my drink, was the principal part of my
sustenance during the greater part of twelve years ; nor did it
cease to be so until my stomach became strong, and capable of
beariog animal food.'

u He continued in good health from the preceding period until
the month of April 1793, when, in consequence of a neglected
cold, he had a return of all his former dangerous symptoms ; but,
by recurring to his old regimen, he was again restored to health,

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98 SVOAA'CAITB*

in About mi mouth* tinie, excepting in strength, which he mr
covered by degrees* He is now in better health thati he cfre* was
before in his life.

" Fontanus, Valerioki,. and Forrestus* assert that they had
patients cured of consumption of the lungs by a continued use
Of the conserve of roses ; and Rirerius knew an apothecary who
cured himself of a confirmed consumption by almost living on
the conserte of roses. Aricenn* records an instance of a hn
prising cure performed on a patient, so nearly dying in a con-
sumption, that preparations were making for her funeral ; and
who was not only perfectly restored to health, btft became very
faty by eating a great quantity of conserre of rotes*. Foreign
journals are full of histories of consumptions cured by this me*
dkine.

" There are instances where people hare scarcely taken any
Other nutriment than conserte of roses. Seme hate eaten a
pound, and a pound and an half, of this eenserre erery day :
three-fourths of this ooosef re are sugars

" The virtues of sugar are not confined to ks nutritive and
balsanHC qualities. It resists putrefaction, and presertei all- sub-
Btances,«-"flesh» fruits, and vegetables,— -from corruption.

" It has a great solvent power, and helps the solution of fat,
oily, and incongruous (oods and mixtures. It promotes their
maceration and digestion in the stomach, and qualifies the electa
ef digestion to the powers of the lacteals t.

" For this reason sugar is much used in foreign oookery, and
so much introduced at dm tables of the luxurious in France, and

also in Italy, Portugal, Spam ; and indeed in every country, ex-

[■---■-<■-- t- ...... .. .. . . . . . ( .. . . l

* This ctfriotn case deserves to be rementbe red*. M SI now thnetem diH
mendat, nftfrafem tn hac tatebtiofte ntirabtli** et referrem soannaav qm
aw cat mnlier pfctbissca. Fenreoit res cujas ad avc, ut ssgritudo cite e*
proloagaretur adeo, donee pervenerit ad mortem, ct vocaretur ad ipsain,
qui praepararet ea quae mortui sunt necessaria. Tunc quidam frater ejus
surrexit ad earn, curavit earn, hac cufa tempore longo, et revixit et sanata
e*t, et impinguata est ; et non est mlhi postfbile, ut dlcam summttm ejus,
quod comedlt de zuccaro rosaceo." Lib. iii. fen. 10. tr. 5. c. 6. p. 668.

t " Acria lenil, acid* obtuudity salsa aritfora austera sumriora reddit,
fmtuie et insipid b gratum saporem trtbuit « atque it 000 verbi oncludam*
omnium saporum domitor videri potest ; nihilque absque saccharo fere ventri
gratum, paniflcio operi additur, Vinis miscetur, aqua enim saccharo suavior
salubriorque redditur.— Nonnii de Re Cibaria, lib. i. c. 47. p. 162.

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8170AR-CANB* 00

tenting England, in coafectkros, preserves, sweetmeat*) and li*
queers*.

" Sugar, in the form of syrup, is an admirable vehicle to com*
minute and coo?©/ to the internal absorbing Teasels any altera*
ti?e, mineral, or vegetable medicine.

" By its misctble property it diffuses minutely any preparation
it may hold in solution, or union, on the surface of the stomach
and intestines, and subjects it to the capacity of the orifices of
the smallest vessels.

" Sugar alone has many medicinal virtues ; and, mado into at
common syrup with water, and disguised, and perhaps dome-*
what improved by vegetable additions, has performed many cures
in diseases, from impoTerisbed blood, rickets, and scrophela,
that have baffled the most skilful physicians ; and empirics have
accordingly availed themselves of what they term ptisans add
medicated syrups."

The balsamic and fattening properties of sugar are promi*
nefctly visible in all parts of the world where k is made, and not
confined to the human race.

The celebrated historian Mr. Bryan Edwards was too ac-
curate in his researches to suffer a fact; so interesting as this, to
escape his observation*

In his History of the West Indies he has drawn a faithful re-
presentation of a plantation in the season of making sugar t.

He says^— " So palatable, salutary, and nourishing is the
juice of the cane, that eiftty individual of the animal creation,
drinking freely of it, derives health and vigour from its use*
The meagre and sickly among the negroes exhibit a surprising al-
teration in a few Weeks, after the mill is set in action. The la-
bouring horses, oxen, and mules, though almost constantly aft
work during this season, yet being indulged with plenty of the
green tops of this noble plant, and some of die scumnringS from
the boiling-house, improve more than at any other period of the
year.

" It must be observed, that muscovado, or what is called
moist sugar, is laxative; and that, in using the juice of the
cane, either as a luxury or a medicine, this also is of a laxative

* *' Si perquam, parce ultima me ma detoretbr, concoclionem jurat, sa«
tietatem fere tollit."— Alex. Petronius, De Victu Romanomnl, p. 3$8.
t January, February, March, and April.

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(50 SUGAR-CAKE,

nature, particularly with people unaccustomed to it; and some-1
times it operates as an, active purgative, and disorders the bowels.
This happens frequently to Europeans, who arrive in the sugar
countries just at crop-time, and, allured by its grateful novelty,
take it to excess."

In support of this opinion we have also the concurrence of the
famous Dr. Cullen.

" The second kind of vegetable matter which we have said
may be supposed to be alimentary, is sugar. Whether this in'
its pure saline state, and taken by itself, without any mixture of
oleaginous matter, can prove alimentary, seems to me very
doubtful ; but that even when approaching very nearly to a sa-
line state, as it is in the Sugar-cane, it may prove alimentary, is
presumed from what happens to the negroes upon our sugar
plantations, who are observed to grow plump and fat when
during the expression of the canes they take a great deal of the
cane-juice.

" The same conclusion may be drawn likewise from this cir-
cumstance, that the people of warmer climates live very much
upon fruits, whose substance, in a great part, consists of sugar ;
and I think it evidently appears that these fruits are more nou-
rishing in proportion as they contain more of sugar. That sugar
enters for a large share into the nourishment of men, we may
know particularly from hence, that figs, a very saccharine fruit,
were anciently the chief food of the athlete, or public wrestlers.

" That the roots of these vegetables, that are especially ali-
mentary, contain a great deal of sugar, we learn from Margraaf *s
experiments, which show that a great deal of pure sugar may be
extracted from them ; and it can hardly be doubted that a great
part of thetr nutritious power depends upon this ingredient in
their composition.

" The best proof, however, of the nutritious quality of sugar,
or of its being a chief part of alimentary substances, is, that a
great proportion of sugar is contained in all farinaceous matter..
This appears from its being evolved in the most part of the fari-
naceous seeds by their germination or malting. And lastly, that
all alimentary vegetables do for a great part consist of su^ar,
we may presume, from their being universally liable to a vinous
or acetous fermentation, the subject of which is probably in all
cases a sugar.

" The affinity between saccharine and farinaceous matter ap-

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•UGAR-CANB. 61

peart particularly from this, that several fruits which at a cer-
tain period of their maturation are chiefly saccharine, are in their
further progress often changed to a farinaceous state. The
germination of seeds, therefore, and the maturation of certain
fruits, fully prove the mutual convertibility of sugar and farina
into each other.

44 While we thus endeavour to show that farinaceous sub*
stances contain a large proportion of saccharine matter, it is to
be observed that the farinaceous seeds are of all other vegetable
matters the most powerful and nourishing to men, as well as to
domestic animals ; and hence the Farina alibilis of Haller. The
nutritious quality he indeed imputes to a mucilaginous or gela-
tinous matter which appears in them upon their being diffused
in water, and it is possible that their nutritious quality may de-
pend upon this ; but at the same time, from what we have just
now said of the composition of farinaceous matter, it will appear
that this vegetable mucilage or gelatina consists for a great part
of sugar, which therefore may still be the basis of its alimentary
part."

Sugar is sometimes used surgically. The refined sugar, pounded
fine, is blown through a quill to remove specks on the cornea of
the eye.

It is mentioned also as singularly efficacious in the cure of
sordid ulcers of the leg*.

As far as my opinion goes, it is very favourable to the free
use of sugar, especially for children, though in some constitu-
tions it is apt to ferment and turn acid on the stomach. But in
general it agrees well. It however blunts the desire for other
food, as a little of this goes a great way, and therefore is said

♦ Ex arnndinibus saccharum extrahimos, boo solum ftd incorraptibile,
sed alii* prssstat ne corrurapantur ; vulneribus iujectum a putrefactione li-
beral ; ex eo solo ingentia vulnera ganari vidimus. Phytognomica, lib. ?•
cap. i. p. 801 , anno 1560, by Baptist* Porta.

M Sugar, extracted from canes, is not only incorruptible in itself, bat
prtaerrcs all other things from corruption $ sprinkled upon wounds H keeps
them from mortifying. I hare seen very large wounds cured only with
•agar." The method of treating fresh wounds among the Turks, is, first to
wash them with wine, and then sprinkle powdered stigar on them. The
celebrated monsieur BeJloste cared obstinate ulcers with sugar dissolved in
a strong decoction of walnut leaves. Tab I have found to be an excellent
application.

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(3 tOQAWLHSAXW.

to pajl the appetite. Respecting injuring ike teeth, I am *fau4
the imputation is bat too true ; and mast have feJt it when eating
of figs, which are replete with saccharine matter. The refined
eugap also is so bard, that it is apt to break the enamel, and
thus injure the teeth. Bit the prevailing ptejudices against
«ugar are rather to be discommended than enforced.

For the several syrups, see the different heads, where these
oaturelly fall. We shall conclude our long account with

Simple or Common Syrup. (Syrupus Simplex sire
Communis. E.)

Take of double refined sugar, ia powder, fifteen parts ;

water, eight parts :

Let the sugar be dissolved by a gentle heat, and boiled a little,
ao as to form a syrup*

Simple syrup should hare neither flavour nev colour, and is
more convenient » extemporaneous prescription than sugar un*
dissolved.*

This is not included in the Pharmacopoeia of the Royal Londof
College of Physicians,

The mode of preparing syrups is as follows :

Syrups. (Syrqpi. L. D.)

In making syrups, where we have not directed either the
weight of the sugar, or the manner in which it should be dis-
solved, this is to be the rule :

Take of double refined sugar, twenty ^nine ounces;

Any kind of liquor, one pint:
Gradually add the sugar, and digest, with frequent agitation, in
a close vessel, and in a moderate heat, until it be dissolved ;
then set it aside for twenty-four hoars ; take off the scum, and
pour off the syrup from the faeces, if there be any.

Syrups are solutions of sugar in any watery fluid, whether
simple or medicated. Simple syrup is nutritious and demulcent.
When made of fine sugar, it is transparent and colourless. If
necessary, it is easily clarified, by beating to a froth the white
of an egg, with three or four ounces of water, mixing it with
the syrup, and boiling the mixture for a few seconds, until the
albumen coagulates, and, enveloping all heterogeneous matters,
forms a scum, which may be easily taken off, or separated by
filtration. When, instead of simple water, any other fluid ie

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SUGARCANE. 63

used for dissolving the sugar, the syrnp is then medicated. Me.
dkated syrups are prepared either with expressed juices, info.
rods, decoctions, or saiioe tuids. The object of forming these
into syrups, is either to render them agreeable to the palate, or
to preserve them from fermentation. In the latter case, the
quantity of sngar added becomes a matter of great importance ;
for, if too mnch be employed, the sugar will separate by cry-
stallization ; and, if too little, instead of preventing fermenta-
tion it will accelerate it. About two parts of sugar to one of
fluid are the proportions directed by the British colleges with
this view. But as, in some instances, a larger quantity of fluid
b added, and afterwards reduced to the proper quantity by de-
coction, it will not be superfluous to point out some circum-
stances, which show the evaporation to be carried far enough.
These are, the tendency to form a pellicle on its surface, when a
drop of it is allowed to cool ; the receding of the last portion of
each drop, when poured out drop by drop, after it is cold ; and,
what is most to be relied on, its specific gravity when boiling
hot being about 1*3, or 1*385 when ookL The syrup which
remains, after all the crystallizablg sugar has been separated from
it, has been mnch, .and probably justly, recommended by some
for the preparation of medicated syrups and electuaries, although
its pharmaceutical superiority is actually owing to its impurity*

Sugar Beer.

Very excellent beer is made of sugar, and also of treacle.
Ton first boil a peck of bran in ten gallons of water ; strain the
bran off, and mix wifh the branny water three pounds of sugar,
first stirring it well : when cool enough you add a tea-cupful of
the best yeast, and a table-spoonful of flour, to a bowl nearly full
of the saccharine water, which, when it has fermented for about
an hour, is to be mixed with the remainder, and hopped with
about half a pound of hops, and the following day it may be
put into the cask, to ferment further, which usually takes up
Aree days, when it is to be bunged, and it will be fit for drink-
ing in a week. Treacle beer is made in the same way, three
pounds of it being used instead of three pounds of sugar.

N. B. This bear will not keep any length of time.

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BARLEY.

HORDEUM DISTICHON.

Clast III. Triandria. Order II. Digynia.
EssewT. Gnr. Cbar. Calyx lateral, with two valves, one-flowered, three

together.
8f£c. Char. Lateral flowen unearned : Seed* angular, imbricated,.

DESCRIPTION.

It is too well known to need any account.

HI9TORY.
Barley is an annual plant, cultivated in almost every conn,
try of Europe. Linnaeus says that it is a native of Tattary, bat
without adducing sufficient proof.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

Pearl barley is prepared by grinding off the husk of rough
barley, and forming the grain into little round granules of a
pearly whiteness. In this state barley consists almost solely of
amylaceous matter : when boiled it forms an excellent article of
nourishment ; and a decoction of it, properly acidulated, is one
of the best beverages in acute diseases.

These are thus prepared :

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BARLEY*'. CS

Decoction op Babley. Barley Water. (Decoctum
Hordei. L. D. Decoct am Hordei Distichi. £.)

Take of pearl barley, two ounces %

• water, four pints:

First wash off the mealy matter which adheres to the barley with
some cold water ; then extract the colouring matter, by boiling
it a little with about half a pint of water. Throw this decoction
away ; and put the barley thus purified into four pints of boiling
water, which is to be boiled down to one half, and strain the
decoction.

Compound Decoction op Barley. (Decoctum Hordei
compositum. L. D.)

Take of the decoction of barley, two pints (four pints, D.) ;
. ■ raisins, stoned, two ounces ;

figs, sliced, two ounces ;

liquorice root, sliced and braised, half an ounce ;

(distilled water, one pint. L.)

Boil to two pints, and strain. L.

During the boiling, add the raisins first, and then the figs, and,
lastly, the liquorice, a short time before it is finished, when the
strained decoction ought to measure two pints. D.

These liquors are to be used freely, as diluting drinks, in
ferers and other acute disorders ; hence it is of consequence that
they should be prepared so as to be as elegant and agreeable as
possible : for this reason they are inserted in the Pharmacopoeia,
and the several circumstances which contribute to their elegance
tet down ; for, if any one of them be omitted, the bererage will
be less grateful. These are, howerer, much oftener prepared
by nurses and servants than by the apothecary ; but it is often*
times requisite for the physician to direct them in the right pre-
paration thereof. The French make great application of these
diluting and softening drinks, and there can be no doubt In
slight diseases they are found extremely serriceable ; and are
useful as an adjuvant to allay thirst, keep up perspiration, and
gently nourish, even in the most acute disorders.

Malt.— Barley, when brought to a state of germination, and
then dried by heat, is called malt. t By this process the saccharine
qualities of the barley are increased, which are easily extracted by
water, when it is called wort, or more properly malt tea. The

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fi6 HAJRLET*

method of preparing this is to take ooe pint of fresh ground
malt to three of boiling water, the mixture to be weU stirred
and left to stand, covered, for three or four hours, when it is
fit for drinking. It is to be used for drink instead of beer, and
is supposed to remove any hot scorbutic humour of the Wood,
amUofdid ulcers of the leg. la cases of cold, this taken thorough
warm in leu of bran tea, k found to be very effectual. Bnt it
has been especially recommended as a cure of sea scurry by Dr.
Macbride, and it appears that the worst cases of that disease
have yielded to its use. It is highly nutritious ; and when found
to relax the bowels, this is corrected by a few drops of lauda-
num (tincture of opium). The essence of malt should be taken
by passengers going out to sea, and by all sea captains.

Brewing.

General Observations.— -From the increased and increasing <kar*
ness of all descriptions of malt liquor, and from its frequent adul-
teration, by wtich Che health and lives of the public are impaired
and endangered, it has become almost the dory of every family
to brew for itself. In this process, which will here be found
much simplified* the#e*s far leas difficulty than is generally ima-
gined. Fiiet, with respect to the best season lor brewing; uao~
derate weather -should be chosen. Set weather should be avoided.
But ail beets will keep beat when brewed just before Christmas.
The oeUar should not be subject to cither estseanty of heat or
cold.

Stewing Jfasek.—FoT a copper holding twenty gallons, the
mash-tub ought at4east to contain four bushels of malt The
copper, with room for .masking or 'Stirring, aoe coolers, and
working-tubs, way be rather fitted to the connenieaee of the
room, than to any particular size, as nf one vessel be not suf-
ficient you may take another.

Management of the Ve$eek.—ki it is necessary that the vessels
should be perfectly olean, and free from nmstinese, yon mast
atnetfy-exannne them on the day before won intend to brew.
ffhey -should never be converted to any other purpose, encept for
the use of making wines; and even in that case, after being dona
with, -they Should be properly cleansed, and kept in a place Creo
from dirt Let each cask be well cleaned with boiling water j
and, if the bunghoJe be large enough, scrub the inside with a
avail bircjfebroom* or brush, if yon find them bad, and a vary

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vwtiy scent com** from, them, ^q out the head&j #$ lei ttym
be scrubbed d*an wi$ a ha^Lbrujlfe sajtf, aitf f ^r^u%
When you havft d>ne thi*, put on thp fyf&ds qgaffl, W* *<*W>
them well; then throw in piece* of iHplftked, ijm^, an4$t°n»
the bwgs close. WJ>en %y )ta*$ tfOfld j^me tpje, rjfpe {hem
well with cold *at*r, ap4 fhqy if U( 1^ ${ far i^fc,
. Wqwp nqgl»t neyer tq \m SflffeBejl ta *a$h fa a h^^house,*
for nothing can be more fcuttful {km the remnant* of 4lf tf WUft
*uds )eft in vessels calculate^ quly for (he purpose o,f t>TftWnjg- .

Ifi preparing fre coolers, be cajeful not to, le{ tV if*t?* sft**
too loog in them, as it will soak in, and soon turn putr\<J, Wbsft
the stench will enter the. wppf, ftn4 teoder faem, alm,?»f jueuya-
b|e. To prevent such consequence*, it fta* been recfflftnien^
that coolers j&oukl be leaded, 'fhoy are tyuq mqpe cleju^yj
and they expedite the cooling of the F9*W WW(* W Wcejsa/y t<*
forwa/4 *bem far warding, as we}l a* aftprwajdf? fpr poojiqg tljfc
whple* Tim cooler* should pp well scou^ with cok} water tw
or tjjree timet* coJ4 water hejng mare proper th^ jio; fr> ejfcct
a perfect cleansing.

'f he mash-tuty in particular mu?t be Jtepi perfeptjy cjean 5 not
must the grajns be left in the tub any linger tteq tfee day aftaf
Vewing) test ft should four the tub ; for, if tjierp ty a isour spent
|o the ljrewtyouse before your {>cer if tunned, it will foe apt to
infect your liquor and worts.

MaU.—^\t ahopld be chosen ty it? f weat ^meM, mellow tatf^
round l*o<}y, «ad th|n sl«n. Pale malt ip inosily 949! ?n fifiicaja
families, and ^rown in public brewfyousee, a? it appear^ tp §9
further, and gives the liquor a higher colour. Tfoft W^*^
malt is that which p dried witji coke or pincers j in grinding
which, see that t^e mjU be clean from dust, cobwebs, £c, an4
jet go as to crush the grain, without grinding it to powder; fop
you had better nave *ome small grains sjjp through untoqchedj
than hare the whole ground too small, whtc^ would caj^peit tg
caffje together, and prevent the goodness from being e^tractf^.

Bopf.r— Hops must be cbopen py their bright green colour,
pveet smell, and clamminess when rubbed between the hands,

Mfaskkpg. — With two impels of malt, aud a pound and a half
•f hops, >ou may make eighteen gallons of good aje, eighteen
gallons of good table tmr^ and nine gallons of pmalj beer ; for
which * copper containing twenty^our g^ftpns wpulf be most
CflavenienL

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68 BARLEY.

If the whole be intended for present drinking, and in cold
weather, there need not be more than about six ounces of hops
to a bushel of malt ; but in warm weather it will be necessary
to apply about half a pound to a bushel.

The first proportions mentioned, are proper when the best
beer is intended to be kept ten or twelve months ; but if the
beer is to be kept sixteen or eighteen months, there should be
* pound of hops to every bushel of malt. Circumstances, how.
ever, will occasionally render it necessary to vary the propor-
tions ; as, if the hops are old, a greater quantity of them must
tie allowed.

One of the first things to be observed in the process of brewing,
is to obtain a heat proper for extracting the virtue of the malt.
The heat of the water, or liquor, as it is technically termed,
should be regulated in the mash-vat so as to prevent any injury
to the delicate and more soluble parts of the malt, and yet to
obtain every necessary property. The frequent errors committed
in this first stage, are a principal cause why the beer, in private
families, so frequently proves contrary to their expectation:
either too high or too low a heat is prejudicial ; the former is
of the utmost consequence ; but the latter, as far as regards ex-
tracting the contents of the malt, may be remedied in the suc-
ceeding mashings. Should the infusion be made at too high a
heat, the consequence will be that of setting the goods, or mash ;
that is, from its violence the sweet of the malt will be in a great
measure locked up, and retain with it a considerable portion of
the wort; therefore, besides falling short of the intended quan-
tity, the extract will be deprived of that strength and quality
which k ought to possess, in consideration of the quantity of
malt allowed for the purpose ; and it will be matter of great dif-
ficulty to obtain by the succeeding mashings the whole virtue of
the malt Should the operation be performed when the water is
below its proper heat, the extract will be imperfect, and con-
sequently deficient in strength, &c, but by the second and third
mashing, the whole of the rich and most esteemed properties of
the malt may be completely drawn off. In this instance it will
be judicious to mix the three worts together, as the first wort
alone cannot prove £ood«

The water having been emptied from the copper, it has beea
usual to let it remain in the mash-vat till the steam is so far eva-
porated that you can see your face in it This mode holds good.

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BARLEY, f>9

mod will be a pretty near guide in cold dear weather ; bat it is,
even then subject to the following objection : the steam wil(
sometimes fly off before the water is sufficiently cold ; in which
case, particularly if the wind be brisk, and the brewery open,
it will be prudent to let it remain some time after the reflection
can be discovered in the water. In close, thick, and rather
warm weather, this rule is extremely liable to error ; for then,
^specially if the brew house be confined, the steam will not go
off sufficiently to judge with any degree of certainty of the heat;
and before the water would become clear, &c, agreeably to the
Above maxim, it would be too cold to operate properly on the
malt. The most certain method to obtain a proper heat for
mashing, is to mix a quantity of cold with a given quantity of
boiling water. In mild weather, rather more than one gallon of
cold to twelve gallons of boiling water, will be found to be
a good proportion. Should the air be inclined to cold, one
gallon of cold to about fourteen gallons of boiling water ; and,
jf very cold, one to sixteen gallons, will perhaps answer the pur-
pose. A brewing thermometer, however, which may be had for
about twenty shillings, and frequently much less, is still more
correct ; and as correctness is of the greatest advantage, in point
of oeconomy, as it insures a complete extract of all the essential
properties of the malt, it will be worth while, in most families,
to purchase one, taking care to obtain a table with it, for its
mode of application*

If possessed of a thermometer, observe the following rules t
Immediately that the water is turned from the copper into the
mash-vat, immerge the instrument for about the space of one
minute : the state of the quicksilver in the tube will then be
easily discerned ; if found to be too hot, apply cold water in
small quantities till reduced to a proper heat In some instances
it may be proper to vary the extracting heat ; such as when very
new malt is brought into the mash-vat, the water in that instance
should be applied from four to six degrees colder; and very old,
or slack malt, will require it as many degrees warmer. When
Jiard water is used, it should be applied four degrees warmer,
.and soft water four degrees colder. At all events, as soon as
the boiling water is emptied iuto the mash-vat, the cold water
■ust be immediately mixed with it, and the mashing performed
as expeditiously as possible ; taking care to saturate, or wet,
ptery part of the malt. Should the copper not be large enough

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t6 infcke aftti ttffcsb the tfrst time it is heated, ev%rjr means of
^»atch tntrst be exetted to get it htot agabi ; and tiiefe directly
torn fate the mash-vat the quantity that is jtrdged necessary fot
•the size, 'Or tyiatrfity of wort to fee drawn off, stirring the
tattsh again, thoroughly to incorporate the whole. This addU
tefrn Of WateV may be applied about four debtees warmer than
the first. Hie toast-Vat should now be covered close with sacks-,
or sothc/thihg sftnflalr, aid refrain two hours before it is suffered
to rtin.

Tile beat of the WateV for the second mash requires Jess at*
tantiob than was necessary hi the former ; as, admitting that to
toave "been Well conducted, there cannot now arise much dangei
of injuring (he matt. The best method for the second mash is>
to let the watet 'boil up well, and then ftrow into the copper 4
shall quantity 6f cold water, in the proportion of one to about
Wenty-five gallons; and by the time it is on the goods, or mash)
St Will in general be a good heat. This second taash Will be the
better for being covered close, and as to the time of its standi
ihg, that mfust be regulated by the boiling of die first wort ; asy
after it bas boiled long enough, and is fit to strain into the
coolers, the fecund Wdrt must be ready to return Into the coppen

The third tnasb may generally be rtiade with cold water, unless
any part of the virtue of the *m*ft, owing to the ill treatment of
the preceding masbings, is thought 'to remain, in which case hot
water mutt be used. This mashing, as well as the two preceding^
should be stirred; and after it has run off, and the brewing is
to be pursued the next day, ft Will be proper to put on tbto
'goods about as much cold water as the copper might contain*
Well stirring it again ; and immediately as the small beer is boiled
toff, return ft into the copper for the next morning's mashingv
fey this mode of proceeding, it is scarcely possible that any of
the rich saccharine properties of the tnalt 'should remain unex*
ltracted.

Boi&fig.— -In the preparation for boiling, the greatest care must
be taken to put the hops in with the first wort. As soon as the
topper is full enough, make a good fire under it, but be careful
to leave room enough for boiling. Quick boiling is part of the
business that requires very particular attention. Should the
copper have no crirve, or any thing to hinder its boiling oret^
there ought to be Something of the 3cind constructed, high enough
to prevent any material danger arising from losing any part of

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BAfcLET. ft

its contents. A piece of sheet lead, about a foot deep, or more,
soldered to the copper all round, and supported with bricks, or
a cttrre of wood, wHl answer die desired purpose in preference
to any thing. Obsenre, that ihe person who attends the copper
should never leave h while boiling ; for, if an uniformity be not
kept op, it is impossible to ascertain how long it may take to
complete the business.

Observe, also, that should die wort be borled too long, it will
fee so much condensed as greatly to retard the fermentation. If
the first wort be meant to be put away for strong beer, without
mixing any part of the second with H, the loss of the fine rich
flavour of the hop most not be regarded ; but the boiling must
be pursued a sufficient length of time to obtain a proper quantity
of its preservative principle. If boiled as fast as convenience
will permit, for about three quarters of an hour, it will be found
to be a proper time for this wort.

A longer time will be required for the separation of the second
wort, as it partakes of the oleaginous nature of the malt in a
greater degree than the first ; an hour and a quarter, or an hour
and a half, will not be too long. For the third, or smaH wort,
one hour's boiling will suffice.

If the first wort be intended to mix fa with the second, for ale,
half an hour's quick boiling will be enough.

Cooling. — The worts should be cooled as quickly as possible
at all seasons of the year, consequently they should not lie in
the coolers more than, three or four inches thick in the winter,
and two inches thick in the summer, care being taken to pro-
portion the coolers to the quantity of malt generally used*
Plenty of room is requisite for this purpose.

Fermenting.— Wkh respect to the heat of the worts, at the
titee of putting them together, to those who have not a ther-
mometer, the best direction that can be given is, that in very
cold weather they should feel quite Warm when set to work;
la mjMer weather they should feel rather warmer than the hand
or finger ; but if very hot weather, they cannot be brought too
cold into the tun.

Should it be necessary to brew in the heat of summer, the
mashing should be deferred tiH noon ; the worts will then come
off in the evening, and lie during the cool of night They should
be examined in the morning, about sunrise, and if found to be
sufficiently cold, shonkl be set to work immediately. If not.

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72 BARLEY.

they may remain an hour or. two ; but it would he imprudent to
let them remain longer, as the air would be gettiug warmer, and
the worts in such weather are liable to a putrefactive fermenta-
tion.

The quantity of yeast that is necessary to excite the fermenta-
tion, is in the proportion of one quart of that which is fresh and
steady, to about forty gallons of strong beer or ale ; and one
pint and a half to the same number of gallons of small beer.
Should the weather prove extremely cold, rather more than the
quantity here mentioned may be applied ; and in very hot wea-
ther, it will be expedient to diminish the quantity. Immediately
that the yeast is applied to the wort, it should be stirred for the
space of two or three minutes, thoroughly to incorporate the
whole, and thereby to cause, in some degree, an immediate fer-
mentation.

The yeast which is intended to be used should be put at one
time into the tun, unless the tun should be so situated as to be
affected by a sudden change of the weather, such as from rather
mild to extreme cold : it may theo perhaps be necessary to add
more yeast, which must be stirred into the tun in the same man-
ner as when first set to work. Indeed, after this it may be
found proper repeatedly to beat in the head, and stir it for two
or three minutes together, which is a measure of necessity, to
revive the fermentation, after having been checked by tjie cold,
ness of the weather, as to be in danger of never working pro-
perly in the casks after being tunned. Observe that, wherever
the tun may be placed, it will be proper to keep it always co-
vered close, and thereby to prevent, as much as possible, the
escape of the fixed air which is generated by the fermentation.

The number of hours which the strong beer fermentation will
continue, depends on the weather, and other circumstances;
sometimes it will be complete in forty or fifty hours, and at
other times exceed sixty hours. The greatest reliance that can
be placed with regard to the period of cleansing, is to pay at-
tention to the head of the guile ; and it will be observed, after
being some time in its most vigorous state, to begin to turn ra-
ther of a brown yeasty nature ; and by repeated attendance it
will be clearly perceived to get more dense and discoloured till
the work is completed, which will be perfectly understood by
its appearing of a thick yeasty consistence, and just ready, as
it were, to fall back into the beer : it then ought to be tunned

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BARLEY. 79

immediately, as it is better to tun a few hours too soon, than
one too late.

Tunning, — Strong beer that is brewed in small quantities, and
ale, whatever the quantity may be, should be tunned the second
day after brewing ; and small beer should be tunned as soon as
it has fairly taken the yeast, which will be seen by the creamy
appearance on its surface.

The bung-hole in the casks for cleansing should be bored in
the centre of a stave at the bilge part of the cask ; as it is from
thence that it is to work and purge itself clean from the yeast,
which cannot be effected in a proper manner if the bung-hole be
made in any other part

The best method of working beer, after cleansing, is by a
stilling, an uteosil which is in the form of a long trough. For
a private family, this may be made about ten or twelve inches
deep, and twelve or fourteen inches wide in the clear ; and the
length according to the number of casks which there may be oc-
casion to work on it at one time. If the stilling be of any con-
siderable length, it will be adviseable to fix two or three iron
braces across, to render it steady and to prevent its spreading ;
these should be rather concave, in order that the casks may roll
pleasantly along. Great attention must be paid to the closing
the joints of the stilling, which would be the better for being
lined with lead. It should have a cork-hole bored through the
bottom near one end, and be placed just high enough to draw
from under it with a bowl-dish or something of that nature.

The casks having been placed upon the stilling, they must be
set sufficiently inclining for the yeast to work down one side of
them. If the beer work briskly, it should be filled up once an
hour at least, for the first six or eight hours after being tunned ;
and care must be taken to keep the casks filled till the fermenta-
tion shall entirely cease, which, if well conducted, will be in a
few days.

. If the beer in the stilling should be getting very thick, it will
be proper, in the evening, to draw it all out, and turn it into a
tub, or one of the coolers, to pitch ; in ten or twelve hours, if
not laid too thick, it will become tolerably fine ; and by keeping
a succession of it, settled, or pitched in this manner, the beer on
the stilling may be filled up with it till completely worked off.

Where it may not be thought worth while to provide a stilr
ling, the best way to proceed will be to place a tub on a stand,

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74 B ABLET,

with a cork-hole bored through the bottom, and across the balb
make a temporary wood frame, on which the cask to be filled
most be placed, working it in the same manner as on the stilling.

When the beer has been completely worked off, it will be
proper to remove it to the place* where it is to remain till drank.
As soon as it is fixed, the bung must be drawn, and the casks
filled up quite full with fine beer, skimming off the head from time
to time, that wiH arise in consequence of its being worked over.
After it has been attended in this manner for two or three days,
about three quarts should be drawn from each cask ; (if hogs-
heads, and others, in proportion,) and then about two quarts
of fresh-boiled hops, run as dry as possible, should be put into
the beer. The casks must then be bunged tight, and a hole bored
for the Tent-peg, which should be left rather slack a day or two ;
and if the beer be obserred to fret, or, owing to the swelling of
(he hops, the cask should be so f uty as to run out at the vent, it
will be necessary to draw off two or three pints more. When
quite free from fretting, the peg may be beaten in tight, and
there will be no further attention required than to examine it
every now and then during die first two or three weeks, being
careful, if it be again inclined to ferment, to draw off an addi-
tional quantity.

Fining. — To fine your beer, should k be requisite, take an
ounce of isinglass, cut small, and boH it in three quarts of beer,
till completely dissolved : let it stand till quite cold, then put it
into the cask, and stir k well with- a stick or whisk: the beer
so fined should be tapped soon, because the isinglass k apt to
make it fiat as well as fine.

Or, boil a pint of wheat in two quarts of water, and squeeze
out the liquid through a fine linen cloth. A pint of this wlM be
sufficient for a kilderkin of ale, and will both fine and pre-
serve it.

Or, take a handful of salt, and the same quantity of chalk
scraped fine, and well dried ; then take some isinglass, and dis-
solve it in some stale beer till it is about the consistence of sy*
rup : strain it, and add about a quart to the salt and chalk, with
two quarts of molasses. Mix diem all well together, wkh a
gallon of the beer, which you must draw off; then put it into the
cask, and take a stick, or whisk, and stir it well till it ferments.
When it has subsided, stop it up dose, and in two days yon may
tapit Thto is auffieknt for a butt

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BARLET. 75

Or, take a pint of water, and half an ounce of unslaked lime :
them well together, letting Hie mixture stand for three hours,
that the lime may settle at the bottom. Then pour off the clear
liquor, and mix with it half an ounce of isinglass, cut small and
boiled, in a little water; pour it Into the barrel, and in five or
six hours the beer will become ffoie.

There can be no doubt but that beer properly prepared is a
very wholesome beverage, and preferable to toast and water, or
water itself. By brewing it yourself you avoid drinking those
adulterated beers usually vended| replete with Cocculus Indicus
(Indian berry), opium, or eve* worse ingredients, as sugar of
lead, sometimes used to recovtr beer, as well as wine when
pricked.

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WINTER WHEAT.

TRITICUM HIBERNUM.

Class III. Triandria. Order II. Digynia.
Esse*t. Gen. Char. Corolla of two valves, solitary, appearing three*

flowered.
Spec. Char. Calyx four-flowered, bellied, smooth, imbricated, nearly

without a barb.

HISTORY.

1 his differs from the aestivum, or Summer Wheat, chiefly by
being a biennial, whereas the other is an annual ; and the calyx
of the aestivum is rough, whereas that of the hi be mum is smooth*

Sp. I. Triticum ^Estivum. D.

Sp. % Triticum Hibernum. £. L.

By some these are considered only as varieties, not as distinct
species. The latter is the most productive, and is most com-
monly cultivated on that accouut; for there is no material dif.
ference between the grains they produce, which are indiscrimi-
nately employed for every purpose.

Wheat flour consists principally of gluten, starch, albumen,
and a sweet mucilage. These may be separated by forming the
Hour into a paste with a little water, and washing this paste with
fresh quantities of water; uutil it runs from it colourless. What

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WINTER WHEAT. 77

remains is the gluten, which, if not the same, is very analogous
to the fibrine of animal substances. From the water with which
the paste was washed, a white powder, amylum (starch), sepa-
rates on standing. The albumen and sweet mucilage remain dis-
solved in the water. By evaporating it, the albumen first sepa-
rates in white flakes, and the sweet mucilage may be got by total
evaporation*

It is the presence of gluten which characterizes wheat flour J
and on the due admixture of it with the other constituents de-
pends the superiority of wheat flour for baking bread.

J5r«t(£.— Bread is made by working the flour into a pasta
with water, a quantity of some ferment, such as yeast, and a
little salt, to render it sapid, allowing the paste to stand until
a certain degree of fermentation take place, and then baking it
in an oven heated to about 488°. During the fermentation a
quantity of gas is formed, and as it is prevented from escaping
by the toughness of the paste, and dilated by the heat of the
oven, the bread is rendered light and spongy. In this process
the nature of the constituents of the flour is altered, for we are
net able to obtain either gluten or starch from bread.

Vie — Bread is not only one of the most important articles of
nourishment, but is also employed in pharmacy for making cai
taplasms, and giving form to more active articles. An infusion
of toasted bread, known better by the appellation of toast and
water, has a deep colour and pleasant taste, and is an excellent
drink in febrile diseases, and debility of the stomach.

Great disputes have been raised about bread ; but it is evident,
from the form of our teeth, that we are both carnivorous and
graminivorous. We possess canine teeth ; and teeth for grind-
ing, as the sheep, ox, &c. ; and it is found that the mixture of
the two foods suits most constitutions. Bread also carries down
a quantity of saliva, so necessary for digestion, and corrects the
natural tendency to putrescency in animal food : but in some
weak stomachs btead does not easily digest, for animal food is
with greater facility converted into chyle than vegetable ; and
such mnst refrain altogether, or be sparing of bread. New
bread is prejudicial, as imbibing less saliva, and if taken in great
quantity will distend the stomach, so as afterwards to produce a
relaxation of that organ.

As respects children, bread and milk constitutes their first
food, and oftentimes biscuits made without butter, and tops and

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78 *|Nf *» VWA1»

bottoms, are formed into powder an4 mixed wW* fl»e mjlk, a*
being supposed to be less acescent. Sometime* fbila>en. are im*
prudently attempted to be reared by bfetfakwe, b<4W in W^ter,
which is calle4 pap, wbeo tbey become emaciated twA rickety i
for the bones of children are composed chiefly of the pfecjpbate.
pf lime, which is in abundance in thp woman/* milk ; hp4 w^ieft
weaned, if cow's milk is thought not so well to agree, J he***,
ordered asses' milk, which comes the nearest t<> the humw milk.
M respects milk, parents ought to knew, that befose it c*u
nourish, it must be first curdled in the stomach ; and rennet is
what Nature bath destined in tfic calf's stomach for this very
purpose, which is so frequently an unnecessary object of terror
to the tender parent Where the stools of m&Wtfi are curdly*
or gripy, the defect is in the chylopoietic y|spera (stomach ap4
Jwwols), not in {Jie food i and rjiubar b ought to be gi»eo ( V«to
our article Rhubarb), or a Httle calcined magnesia. But by ajf
anaaas aroid Dalby's carminative, Godfrey's oor^iaJ, syrup of
poppies, and other heating drugs fpr your infant j for tjiese are
4he snare* that catch the ignorant, delude, entrap aod, ajas I
root out myriads scarce beforo they ^a?e seen the light of day,
Mothers ought carefully to watch that the food is not four, and
often make ft fresh ; for until there be a l*w to punish careless
purses, soar food will perpetually be crammed down the throat*
ofjnnoeeni babes.

Starch^Stajrch is a fine white powder, generally concreted in
friable hexagonal columns, smooth to the feel, and emitting a par?
#eeJar sound, when compressed. It has neither taste nor smell.
it is decomposed by heat It is not soluble in cold peAer or in
alcohol. Warm water coo rents it into a kind of mucilage, which
on cooling assumes a gelatinous Goosjstence. This jelly, when
dried by beat* becomes transparent aAd brittle like gum, but is
aot soluble in cold water. Starch, after being thus dissolved in
hot w#4er, cannot be reduced to its original state. Jt is preciT
{ritatesl by infusion of galls, and the precipitate is ^dissolved on.
js«atmg the mixture to i2Q°, J>ui is not soluble in alcohol. Lt
is found in many vegetables, combined with different substances,
fouroroy, accowliqgly, makes various species of it; as, conv
Juned,

1. With gluten or fibrine; as in wheat, rye, and other similar
«eeds.

%. Wi(h extractive; as in beans, pease, lupins, &c.

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WINTER WHBAT. 79

. 3. With mucilaginous natter ; as in the potato*, and mas j
mthet roots, and in unripe corn.

4. With saccharine matter; in most roots, and in corn after
it has begun to germinate.

5. With oil ; in the emulsive seeds, almonds, &c«

6. With an acrid principle ; as in the root of the bardock,
jatropha maoilot, arum, asarnm, and other tuberous root*.

MEDICAL USE.

Starch, In a medical point of view, is to be considered as a de-
mnlcent ; and accordingly it forms the principal ingredient of an
officinal lozenge, and a mucilage prepared from it often produces
excellent effects, both taken by the mouth, and in the form of a
clyster, in dysentery and diarrhoea, from irritation of the intes*
tines.

Mdcul&gk of Starch. (Mucilago Amyli. £. L. D.)

Take of starch, three drachms ;

water, one pint:

Triturate the starch, gradually adding the water ; then bofl them
a little*

The Edinburgh college use half an ounce of starch to one
pound of water. The mucilage thus formed is very useful in
these cases where a glutinous substance is required : it is often,
seceessfally employed as a clyster in diarrhoeas depending on
acrimony in the intestines.

There can be no doubt but starch clysters hare proved ex>
tremely useful in checking diarrhoeas, and in disorders of chil-
dren, or infants; but the practitioner ought to remember, that
the purging is often an effort of nature to get rid of irritating
offensive matter in the bowels, as acrimonious green bile, &c. ;
and here it would be criminal to palliate, as is too often the
ease, opiates being also added, by which means thousands of
innocent victims have fallen by this delusive practice. The
enemy, instead of being pent up in the bowels, must, be driven
out by cathartic medicines, especially rhubarb, to which co-
rumba may be added, or vitriolated kali, and the starch used
only as an adjuvant, to blunt the violence of the acrimony : in
long protracted diarrhoeas much advantage may be derived, but
not so much from correcting acrimony as from some astringent
property in the starch itself. In this latter disease, a dessert-
spoonful of the starch mucilage in some agreeable simple w^atcr,

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80 WllfTEfc WHEAT.

sweetened with a little sugar, may be taken every hour or two ;
and this is more particularly serviceable when by the flux, or
acrimony, the mucus of the bowels is taken away, and they are
left undefended.

Bran. — Bran is the husk of wheat, possessing a small pro-
porti6n of farinaceous matter ; and a decoction of this, sweetened
with a little honey, or sugar, is a sovereign remedy, amongst the
vulgar, for a bad cold ; but its chief virtue is in the sugar, or
water if you choose, like most of the French petites p tisanes y
with veronica, and other herbs ; and these, indeed, keep up per-
spiration, being taken warm, supply the place of more nutritious
food, moisten the fauces, and cure such complaints often better
than medicines of primary importance.

Agriculture.

It cannot be the object of these pages to treat on the sub-
ject of agriculture ; but its principles may be here casually ex.
plained. Vegetable mould, the decomposition of animal and
vegetable substances, constitutes the best soil, as this retains
the proper quantity of moisture, imbibing it like a sponge, is
attractive of oxygen, which uniting with its contained carbon, is
the true pabulum, or food of plants, and is of a proper consist*
ency to suffer the roots to pervade it, and support the plants*
Clay, on the contrary, is too hard, resists the admission of water,
and contains no carbon. Gravel like sand is too yielding, suffers
water to pass through its substance, gives little stability, and
contains no vegetable food. The manure for clay is gravel, or
sand ; and vice versd. The operation of manures is to impart to
clayey or gravelly soils carbon ; of lime, to hasten on incipient
fermentation, soon converting decaying animal and vegetable
substances info carbon ; of ploughing, to expose a larger surface
for the imbibing of oxygen, and a more rapid decomposition of
vegetable matter, and for the destruction of weeds.

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Mr mm WV

Y mS\ I wan

[Ti

CULTIVATED OAT.

AVENA SATIVA.

CZatt III. Triandria. Order II. Dagynla.
Ettsrr. Out. CaAa. Ca/yx of two valves, Many-flowered ; the dorsal

husk tamed in.
8nc. Cbab. Paaicalatec C*bp only two-flowered: &*tdi smooth, <

DESCRIPTION.
It is too generally known to need any.

HISTORY.

The oat Is also a plant, like wheat, whose native country is

not discovered, which is very generally cultivated in northern

countries, and in many places furnishes the principal subsist*

cues. It is sometimes mixed with wheaten flour, and made into

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82 CULTIVATED OAT.

bread. When simply freed from the husks, this grain gets the
name of groats, bat it is more frequently ground into oatmeaL
Groats are made use of in broths* Oatmeal is baked with salt
and water into cakes, orf with the same additions, is boiled to
form porridge. An infusion of the husks in water, allowed to
remain till it becomes acidulous, is boiled down to £ jelly, which
is called soaring In all these forms it is nutritious, .arid easy of
digestion.

MEDICAL USE.

Gruels or decoctions, either of groats or oatmeal, either plain
or acidified, ojr sweetened, form an excellent drink i* febrile •
diseases, diarrhoea, dysentery, Ac. ; and from their demulcent
properties prove useful in inflammatory disorders, coughs,
hoarseness, roughness and ulcerations of the fauces. Porridge
is also frequently applied to phlegmonous swellings to promote
their suppuration.

This also may be deemed rather an adjuvant, than an active
medicine, and in sickness gruel forms an excellent supper. Mixed
with bread and milk It is catted porridge, and makes a good
breakfast or supper for children, sweetened with a little sugar;
others put butter to it In incipient sore throats pepper is em*
ployed, and taken at bed-time, which occasions the swellings to
disappear.

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DYER'S MADDER.

RUBIA TINCTORUM.

CZom IV* Tetraodria. Order J. Monogyni*.
Jbaarr. Gcn. Chab, CtroUa one-petalled, campanulate : Bertie* two

one-seeded.
Spec. Chab. Leaves in whorls: Stem aculeate.

DESCRIPTION.

This plant grows to two feet in heiglit; its stalks are square
and rough; its leaves oblong and narrow^ and stand four at
each joint, in the manner of a star, lis flowers are produced
in clusters at the upper part of the stalks, and are ver^ small,
and of a pale yellowish-green colour ; these are succeeded by a
fruit containing two seeds.

HISTORY.

Madder is perennial, and is cultivated in 1arg4 quantities in
'England, from whence the dyers are principally supplied with it
'It has been said to grow wild in the south of England, tat the
ruMa peregfina was mistaken for it.

The roots consist of articulated fibres, about the tfetekness of
a quill, which are red throughout, have a weak smell, and a bit-

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84 dyer's madder*

terish astringent taste. For the use of the dyers, they are first
peeled and dried, then braised and packed in barrels. Madder
possesses the remarkable property of tingeing of a red colour the
urine, milk, and bones, of animals which are fed with it*

MEDICAL USE.

It is said to be useful in the atrophy of children, and some
believe in its reputed powers as an emmenagogue.

It is given in substance in doses of half a drachm, several
times a~day, or in decoction.

like every other remedy possessing a powerful colour, it is
supposed to be a cure of the yellow jaundice, but with no better
foundation, although it colours the urine of a bright red, which
has made some who have taken it conceive they have made bloody
water. It is said by Haller, that merely holding the root in the
hand produces this effect. Cows, who are remarkably fond of
the plant, give also a red milk, but it makes a yellow butter.
Hence some have advised the use of this plant in dropsy, but the
success is doubtful. The great Boerhaave, speaking of it, says :

" Radix vino, cerevisias, vel aquae incocta dat potum, qui
aperiendo et roborando agit in utero, melancholia, sabulo re*
num, ictero, morboque hypochondriaco, sanguine coagulato,
hydrope, et contusion^ urina obstructa,-— prsesertim si haec de-
cocta melle edulcorentur, et per aliquot dies successivos usur-
pentur. Alii plantam summopere adstringentem esse dicunt, sed
tamen inter resolventes accipitur; panni inde rubro colore tincti
et gestf supra corpus nudum podagricis et arthriticis prosunt." ,

" The root given in wine, ale, or water, both acts as a corro-
borant and aperient in uterine disease, melancholy, gravel or
stone in the kidneys, jaundice, hypochondriasis, coagulated
blood, dropsy, contusion, obstruction in passing water,— espe-
cially if sweetened with honey, and continued for several days.
Many assert that it is astringent, but it is rather to be conceived
as a resolvent, and hence cloth dyed with the same, and placed
tipon agouty or arthritic limb, has done service. n

That it even coloured the bones was first noticed by Mizaldui,
but not known in England until Mr. Belchier published an ac-
count in the Philosophical Transactions, vol. xxxix. p. 287, of
a pig and a cock, whose bones became red by eating madder
mixed with their food* Since that period various experiments
have been made, from which it appears that the colouring matter

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oyer's madder. 85

•f madder affects the bones in a very short time, and that the
most solid or hardest part of the bones first receives the' red co-
lour, which gradually extends, ab externa, through the whole os-
seous substance, while the animal continues to take the madder
along with its food ; and if this root be alternately intermixed
and employed for a sufficient length of time, and at proper in-
tervals, the bones are found to be coloured in a correspondent
number of concentric circles. This in time becomes completely
taken up, showing that every part of us is removing and rege-
nerating every instant of our being ; and this not only with the
soft parts, but even the very bones !

Probably this led to the application of this plant in diseases
of the bones ; and Haller asserts that it has been found good in
mollities ossiom, softness of the bones, and even dissipated nodes
Yery perceptible to the finger.

Mr. Levret, Haller says, speaks of a cure of the rickets by
means of this plant ; and that he himself cured a young lady,
fourteen years of age, using with it only a ptisan of polypody
and a few grains of rhubarb each day.

As to its being a cure for the atrophy of children, mentioned
in the New Edinburgh Dispensatory, which is usually so ex.
trernely correct, it seems hardly adapted for that purpose ; for
the animals who were fed upon .this substance became emaciated,
and died of atrophy, unless the diet was changed ; and given in
pellets to pigeons, they vomited them up.

As an emmenagogue, Dr. Home published in 1780 his Clinical
Experiments, in which he asserts it to be one of the strongest and
safest emmenagogues with which we are acquainted ; and relates
nineteen cases of obstructed menstrua in which it was tried, and
tells us that fourteen of them were cured. He gave the madder
in powder, half a drachm four times a day ; and he observes,
that it produced no sensible effects in the stomach or bowels, or
in promoting any of the secretions.

Portal recommends the infusion as a great resolver in cases of
contusion.

Old Gerard mentions also that it is good in staying the bloody
flux.

Dr. Cullen thinks it a plant deserving slight estimation, and
more worthy the attention of the dyer than the physician ; but
we should be sorry to see our short catalogue of drugs abridged,
unless from a wider experience than has been hitherto made of it

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COMMON GREAT PLANTAIN

WAYBREAD.

PL^NTAGO MAJOI^.

Class IV. Teirandria. Order I. Monogynla.
Essewt. Gev. Char. Calyx four-cleft : Limb reflexed : Stamina very long :

Cttpsuie two-celled, cut around.
Spec. Char. Leapet ovate: Scape round: Spike tqmjpaed of imbricatod

floacules,

DESCRIPTION.

It is a plant with a fibrous root, sending qut long OTal Ieaycm
irregularly subdentate, of a pale green, and ribbed ; these are
sefren, often fire, and sometimes nine : the footstalks are leafy.
The flower-stems also proceed from the root, and are a span ki
height, crowned with a spike of clustered flowers which are eft*
oeedingljr minute. It is common in pastures*

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60M0BT CHEAT 9LAMT&UU Vt

MEDICAL USES.

Of this plant I shall begin by giving the old opinion of its
firtues:

1. Plantain is good for vlcers that are of hard curation, for
fluxes, issues, rheums, and rottennesses, and for the hloudy flux;
it stayeth bleeding, it heales vp hollow sores and vlcers, as well
old as new.

2. The juice or decoction drunken stoppeth the bloudyiliix,
and all other fluxes of the belly, stoppeth bloody water ; also
spitting of blood, and all issues of bloud in man or woman, and
desire to vomitt.

3. Plantain leaves stampt and used with yelks of egges, stayeth
the inordinate flux of the terms, although it haue continued many
yeares.

4. The root of plantain, with the seed, boiled in white wine
and driinke, openeth the conduits or passages of the liver and
kidneys, cures the jaundice, and ulceration of the kidneys and
bladder.

5. The juice dropped in the eies cooles the heat* and inflam-
mation, thereof. I find in anticnt writers many good-morrowes
(sayings), which 1 think not meet to bring into your memorje
againe ; as, that three roots will cure one griefe, foure another
disease, six hanged about the necke are good for a third ; all
which are but ridiculous toyes.

6. The leaves are singular good to make a water to wash a
sore throat or mouth.

7. The leaves of plantaine stamped and put into oile olive,
and set in the hot sun for a moneth together, and after boiled
in a kettle of seething water, which we call balneum Marias,
and then strained, prevaile against the pains in the eares, and
the matrix, being cast with a syringe into the other parts before
rehearsed, or the paines of the fundament, as prooned by a
learned gentleman, Mr. Godowrus, sergeant surgeon to the
queen's roajistie.— Old Gerard.

It was once received in the Edinburgh, but not in the London
Pharmacopoeia, and how far it may deserve a place in either de-
serves here to be inquired. It appears to be the great vulnerary of
the ancients, and the leaves are now outwardly used by the com.
mon people to all fresh wounds. It is curious that it is the chief
remedy for the enre of the bite of the rattlesnake, for which dis-

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88 COMMON GREAT PLAHTAIW.

covery an Indian received a great reward from the assembly of
Sooth Carolina. Trajas mentions it as an ingredient in Julian Paul.
Bier's " PuIt. ad rabiem," powder against the bite of a mad dog.
It was inwardly used when any bruise had happened producing
spitting of blood : " Adversns yomitum et ezpuitionem sanguinis,
nullum certius et praesentius remediu'm." Boyle de Util. Phif. Nat.
p. 150. It was supposed that persons subject to miscarry might
be prevented from such accidents : " Muiierculae gallinx, toto
gestationis tempore, ad abortum praecavendum, singulis fere die-
bus sumunt sem. plantaginis dr. ss. in jusculo, aut ovo, et non
sine fructu." River. Prax. p. 479. In ague it was found to be
efficacious ; and Bergius says, "Plurimae sunt narrationes de uti-
litate radios plantaginis in tertianis. Periculum ipse feci, dosi
largiori, scil. a drachmis 3 aut 6, quovis die, sub apyrexia, in
vernalibus autem febribus subinde opem tulit" T raj us says that
it is very serviceable in consumptions ; and indeed the seeds are
highly mucilaginous. He adds, " that the country .people give
nnc. 2 to unc. 4 of the expressed juice in the beginning of an
ague fit Two drachms of the extract, and one drachm of the
seed, stops all fluxes, and all kinds of haemorrhages. It is good
in dysentery, haemoptoe, hemorrhoidal flux, or too much of
the courses, and in fluor albus."

In short, there is too much reported of the medicinal virtues
of this herb to have it as yet discarded from our Pharmacopoeias ;
but I have not had myself any experience of them*

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CONTRAYERVA.

DORSTENIA CONTRAYERVA,

TEL

DRAKEA CONTRAYERVA.

Class IV. Tetrandria. Order I. Monogynta.
Esssirr. Gsiv. Chab. Receptacle common, one-leaf, fleshy, in which the

seeds are nested.
Spcc. Char. Scapes radical: Leaves pinnatifid-palmate serrate t Receptacle

quadrangular.

DESCRIPTION.

JL uis plant is low and small, rising singly from the root, and
amongst them single naked stalks, bearing each a square re-
ceptacle of the seeds. The flowers are exceedingly minute, aud
upon close inspection are found to be a compound flower with
nale and female florets.

HISTORY.

This plant is perennial, and grows in South America and
of the Caribbean islands.

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90 CONTRAYERVA.

The root is knotty, an inch or two long, and about half an
inch thick, of a reddish brown colour externally, and pale
within : long, rough, slender fibres shoot ont from all sides of
it, and are generally loaded with small round knots* It has a
peculiar kind of aromatic sm41, and a somewhat astringent,
warm, bitterish taste, with a light and sweetish kind of acri-
mony, when long chewed : the fibres have little taste or smell ;
the tuberous part, therefore, should be alone chosen.

This root contains so much mucilage, that a decoction of it
will not pass through the filter. Neumann got from 480 parts,
190 watery extract, and afterwards with alcohol 7; and inversely
102 alcoholic, and 60 watery. I find that the tincture reddens
infusion of litmus, is precipitated by water, and has no effect
on the salts of iron.

Nicholas Monardus, almost two centuries ago, first makes
mention of the plant called Contrayerva ; and as this name is of
Spanish origin, signifying * antidote to poison,1 it might apply to
any plant supposed to possess such virtue. We are told by
Clusius, that he received from sir Francis Drake some roots
which were brought from Peru, where they were highly rained,
and reported to counteract the effect* of serpents and all other
kinds of poisons. This plant was named, in honour of the cir-
cumnavigator, Drakea, and is supposed to be the same as the
present. Plamier (Nor. Gen. Plant.) called it Dorstenia; and
<Linn«us has followed tbe same tide.

MEDICAL ITSE.

Contrayerra is a gentle stimulant and diaphoretic, and is
sometimes given in exanthematous diseases, typhus, and dysen-
tery. Its dose is about half a drachm. x

As to its being an antidote against animal and vegetable poi-
sons, little is known to European physicians ; but it possesses
certainly a stimulant property. Hence it is given as a diaphoL
retic and antiseptic in low aud malignant fevers, small-pox, and
bad state of measles ; and though used freely creates no consi-
derable degree of heat. The dose is from ten grains to a drachm
in substance in decoction or infusion to half a drachm, or more.
•*It is usually joined with the common effervescing draught, give*
in the state of effervescence.

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CONTRAYERVA. 91

PREPARAflONS.
The Royal London College only order the following:

Compound Powder of Contrayvrya. (Pulvis Contrayerva
compositus. L.)

Take of contrayerva, powdered, fire ounces ;

-i compound powder of crabs elawS} one pound and a

half: .
Mix them.

This medicine, says the author of the Edinburgh Pharmaco-
poeia, has a Tety good claim to the title of an alexipharmic and
sudorific* The contrayerra, by itself, proves Tery serviceable
in low fevers, where the vis viUe is weak, and a diaphoresis
to be promoted. It is possible that the crabs claws are of no
further service than as they divide this active ingredient, and
make it sit more easily on the stomach.

I have likewise used this remedy with much success in the
diseases incident to children, where the bowels appeared to re-
quire an absorbent, and the vital actions wanted to be roused*
and the pores to be opened ; and have found good from the
powder of contrayerva, without the composition, in phagedenic
ulcers and incipient mortifications.

There are some who would also discard this medicine from
our Pharmacopoeias ; but, as I observed before, we have no ar.
tides to spare*

Lewis mentions an extract made by rectified spirits whicft
tastes strongly of the contrayerva, and leaves in the mouth a
durable, glowing, vibrating kind of pungency, like that of pep-
permint, but far milder. This deserves to be tried.

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WHITE SAUNDERS.

SANTALUM ALBUM.

Clatt IV. Tetrandria. Order I. Monogynta.
Esseiit. Gsif. Char. Cafyx four-toothed: Corolla four-petalted; with
the petals growing on the calyx, besides four glands: Berry inferior,
one-seeded.

HISTORY.
T his valuable tree is a native of many parts of India. Its
-wood is the White and Yellow Sanders or Sandal wood, Santa-
Inm album et flavum of the Materia Medica; both being the
produce of the same tree, and not, as Garcias says, of different
trees. '

Most trees in India, when large and old, become coloured
towards the centre : that part is always much more hard and
durable than the exterior uncoloured part Thus with the sandal
tree ; the centre, when the tree becomes large, acquires a yellow
colour, great fragrance, and hardness ; whilst the exterior part

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WHITE SAUNDERS. 93

of the fame tree is white, less firm, and scarcely with any fra-
grancy. It is only the yellow part that is in use; and the larger
and older the tree the more raluable its wood, which possesses
the highest fragrance, for which it is valued.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

Lewis, speaking of this wood, says, that it has a bitterish
aromatic taste, accompanied with an agreeable kind of pungency.
Distilled with water it yields a fragrant essential oil, which
thickens in the cold Into the consistence of a balsam, approach*
iog in smell to ambergris, or a mixture of ambergris and roses :
the remaining decoction, inspissated to the consistence of an ex*
tract, is bitterish and slightly pungent. Rectified spirits ex-
tract, by digestion, considerably more than water ; the colour
of the tincture is a rich yellow. The spirit, distilled off, is lightly
impregnated with the fine flavour of the wood : the remaining
brown extract has a weak smell, and a moderate balsamic pun*
gency. This wood, therefore, though at present among us dis*
regarded, promises to hare a good claim to corroborant virtues,
ascribed to it by Hoffmann and others.

It has no affinity with the Saatalnm rnbrum, Red Saunders,
which falls under another class and order ; nor has the White
Saunder* a place in cither the London or Edinburgh Pharmaco*
pfeias.

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» jP V ^

%jjH Elk

*^^M tt:^^

r a

CLEAVERS.

GOOSE-GRASS.

GALIUM APARINE.

Clou IV. Tetrandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Essvnt. Ge9. Csar. Corolla monopetalotis, flat t Seeds two, roundish.
Spec. Char. Leave* eight, keeled, rough, with small prickles bent back;
Stem alio betel with similar prickles, jointed, villous : Fruit hispid*

DESCRIPTION.

1 his plant rises from four to six feet, climbing up other
plants. The leares are six or eight in a whorl, lanceolate, upper
side rough with sharp prickles* ¥fce stem is square, the angles
being guarded with sharp prickles, bent down. The flowers are
small, inconspicuous, and white, on rough footstalks. The co-
rolla is wheel-shaped, and divided into four segments. These
change into a fruit rather large, composed of two berries, slightly
adhering together, covered with hooked prickles, containing two
seeds.

HISTORY.

It is very common about cultivated grounds and hedges, pro-
ducing its flowers from June tilllSeptember. It is chopped up, and

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CLEAVERS. 95

ghren to goslings or young geese, who eagerly devour it The
goose and gander refuse it Its taste is somewhat .bitter and
acrid.

MEDIC4L Virtues.

Dioecorides mentions an ointftent of great efficacy made from
the expressed juice of this plant mixed With hog's lard, for dis-
cussing tumours in the breast ; and Gaspiau, an Italian, adopted
the same with great saccdsY After some eminent surgeons hare
failed, I hare ordered Aft expressed, juice mixed with linseed
meal, to be applied to the breast, with a tea-spoonful of the same
to be taken fasting in the 'morning ; and^fhis plan, after a short
time, has removed rery frightful indolent tumours in the breast
It is supposed to be useful in stftfnry, and for hemorrhages of
the nose, and spitting of blood. BoerhaaVe says, its leaves made
into tea are an excellent remedy in epilepsy and gout

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ALKANET.
DYER'S BUGLOSS.

ANCHUSA TINCTORIA.

Clau V. Pentandria. Order I. Mono&ynia.

Essmrr. Gsn. Char. CoroUa fennel-shaped, the month doted with pro-
minences : Seed* marked at the base.

Spec. Char. The plant tomentose : Leave* lanceolate, obtose : Stamens
shorter than the corolla.

DESCRIPTION.

It growg to about a foot in height ; the leaves are rough and
large, and stand alternate on the stalks ; the flowers are rather
small, and purplish or biueish, and are succeeded each by four
seeds.

HISTORY.

This plant is a native of Europe : it is sometimes cultivated
in our gardens ; but the greatest quantities are raised in Ger-
many or France, particularly about MontpeJier, from whence
the dried roots are usually imported to us. The alkanet root
produced in England is much inferior in colour to that brought
from abroad ; the English being only slightly reddish, the others
of a deep purplish red ; and it has been suspected, but without
sufficient foundation, that the foreign roots owe part of their

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ALKANET, 97

tiolonr to art The cortical part of the root is of a dusky red,
and imparts an elegant deep red to alcohol, oils, wax, and all
unctuous substances, but not to watery liquors.

Alkanet root has little or no smell ; when recent, it has a
bitterish astringent taste, but when dried scarcely any. Its chief
use is for colon ring oils, ointments, and plasters* As the colour
is confined to the cortical part, the small roots are best, haying
proportionally more bark than the large.

This species of anchusa irfiatire oTSf ontpellier, and its root
is imported to us from the" southern pirts ot Europe. It is ac-
cepted into the Edinburgh, but not into the London Pharma-
copoeia, for its sole use with the former is allowed to be the co-
louring certain ingredients, one-fortieth part giving a fine deep
red ; and hence it is usually emptoyedin what are called lip-
talres.

But let us riew it, if possible, in a truly medical point of Tie w.
The great Boerhaare says, " the root of the alkanet is rery open-
ing, and afterwards acts as an astringent ; hence it is usefully
administered in decoction against dlartbcea. Externally it is
employed for drying up old inVeterate ulcers." Sir John Hill
says " it promotes the discharge by urine, and is good in nephritic
eases." The author Of thU work eah say nothing respecting the
use of alkanet, Ottiept, thatrhe haaoceaeionaHy ordered bark
draughts to be coloured with it, to conceal a remedy which the
patient was absurdly prejudiced against ; and it has been also
used for this purpose when medicines would 'otherwise possess
ooly the appearance of clear water."" Faith, it is justly said, has'
no small concern in the cure of diseases.

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•

WATER TREFOIL,

BUCKBEAN.

MENYANTHES TRIFOLIATA.

Class V. Pentandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Assent. Gen^ ChAr. Xorolia hirsute: Stigma two-cleft: Capsule one*

celled.
Spec. Chmu Leaves ternate*

DESCRIPTION*
1 his beautiful plant is common in bogs. The flower-stalks
shoot out often twelve inches in height, bearing many elegant
flowers in a spike. These are white, but commonly rose-co-
loured on the outside, and in the inside so finely fringed as to
produce an extraordinary appearance. Its leaves are three toge-
ther, resembling our garden bean, or the trefoil, whence its name.

HISTORY.

This perennial plant is Very common in marshy situations, and
is one of the most beautiful of our native flowers. It flowers in
June and July.

The leaves grow by threes on footstalks. They are exces*

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WAT£R*TKBFOIt, OR BtJCKBBAtf. 99

wisely bitter, and their bitterness is extracted by infusion. They -
are said to be sometimes used in brewing ale, and that one ounce
will go as far as half a pound of hops.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

A drachm of them, in powder, purges and Tomits. In, infu-
sion or extract they have been recommended in intermittents, in
several cachectic and cutaneous diseases. The dose of the extract
is from ten to twenty grains.

This valuable native merits more attention than is commonly
given to it It seems as if Providence had kindly placed the re-
medy in those situations most productive of agues *, and that
we have no reason to cross the ocean for the cure of intermit-
tents. A cheap remedy is at hand. The blackness manifested
by adding a solution of green vitriol to the juice, or to a strong
infusion of the leaves of buckbean, is a sufficient test of its
astringency. The great Boerhaave says, " Contra tertianam et
quartanam febrim valet;" — " It overcomes the tertian and quar-
tan ague." Haller mentions the same fact, " that intermittents
yield to it :" and in the last war the Germans made use of this
remedy, with almost unvaried success, instead of bark. Ray
mentions a similar event : " flerba hacc Germanorum amara,
nnperis annis, in magna existimatione esse coepit. NonnuIIi ad
morbum artkularem ; alii ad scorbuticos affectus, ad febres inter-
mitten tes, et catarrh os earn commendant, et in hydropicis af-
fectibus valde profuisse existimant." Dom. Taocred Robinson,
R. p, 285.

As to cachectic disease, that is disease and emaciation, debi-
lity of the prime viae, in these cases bitters are known to be of
service. But the cure of the rot in sheep from this herb may
have induced this opinion : " Dom. Tanc. Robinson se saepius
observasse ait oves tabidas, in paludes hac hcrba abundantes,
compulsas, ejus esu sanitati restkutas."— -R. Hist. Boerhaave
says : u Folia ejus decocta conveniunt in cachexia.*'

In scorbutic affections bitters have wonderful efficacy; and
Sim. Paulli gives several instances of its extraordinary efficacy,

* It was a carious fact, noticed by LinoaMt*, that marsh miasmata are
ttV cause of agaes, and that lime being employed as manure in such situa-
tions overcame these miasmata, and the ague disappeared. 1 have myself
traced this curious fact in several parts of England.

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Vfflc Quatf/Bbti effit 'idW/pi 150! « I* g<*« fcfflte**t;*cw> •
bu%Tand 'scrophnTHus 'diffl^s^ ^a¥e *1>«tf ^wihWted^ e»pe* -
riencc. Inveterate cuUneoui ffl*ea!tetf fc*HJ be^i^*red»t>y«ui »
infusion of the leaves, drank tp a quart a day, for some weeks.*
New Disp. p. 221. Boerhaave says : u tlusticis scorbnticis est
plaiita cominendatissiinV si'iil 'ceVeVTsU'inftisa c^haiS fefc
mentetur."

Lewis', speaking 'of :tl»is-"p1ailt 'f d'1 hU; Msierht Medft^V **M
"The leaves of the buckbeanhaveabitfer peneWtfcg taste, whlcV
they impart both to watery and spirituous m'40s¥rria! they have
of late years come into common use* as* aft 'alterative and 'apfci
ricnt, in impurities of the humours, andsome hydropic* arid'rheu.;
niatic cases. They are usually taken in the Jf6rm of Infusion*
with the addition of some acrid antiscorbutic herbs'^ Which' in
most cases improve their virtue, and orange-peel^ ofs6rae"othef
grateful aromatic, to alleviate their ill taster the^ aire' sdinethnes^
among the common people, fermented tfitn matt Injuors^ for an
antiscorbutic die td rink.

This plant has also obtained a naniefor the cure^qf rhemna-
tism and gout. Boerhaave says : u BbreateS' hank plantaui'sum-
mopeire amant, et in scorbuto, qui a lcfhtd' nltocb obsidente ner-
vbrum et musculorum membrahas et ju'tfctnras oritur, hoCmodo
ntuntar ': fy . f oliorum men yari thes ' manlp*. dual, con tef e in pul-
pam cum serb lactis, decoque, hoc'dedbctunl niabe jejflrib sto.
toacnb assuihatur. in f dbloribus rheumaticis est optima plants,
priesertim in hoc rheumatismo, qui hgre't circa' jftnettiras et ner-
vorum membranas, haec herba instar potns thee adhibita optkaV
convenit.,) Boerhaave was himself cured of gout by taking it
mixed with wney. Alston sa^s that life1 has* s&tf very remarkable
good effects' from this plant in gout, ill keeping oft the pa*
rbxysms, though not ultimately to the pattefctV advantage ; and,
indeed, all these bitters have been frdni time' to titntf vaunted as*
curing the gout, but, as the great CulleU says, " after a time
these cured people have fallen into vforsg disease*, generally Ay.
drops pectoris*' (water in the chest). But in chronic rheamftu
tism much advantage is derived from a stimulating titter like tfi*
present; more especially as- it- aba open* th«i- boweJsy aed-re~
moves acrid bile.

Viridet cured by this remedy a paralytic hypochondriac, an4<
das placed this herb among the number of lithonthripic* Boer,
haavc also says, " Dolores nephrfticos oftrat." An? for as lbf

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WATKB-TBBFOIL, OR/ BUCKBE AN. 101

experience has gone, all bitten are favourable to gravel, and cal*
eulons complaints in the kidneys or, bladder.

It is recommended by Boe^ia^re plso as an outward applica-
tion for dissolving glandujar fuellings : u Folia cum sale et vino
contusa, et forma catanjasmatif <jdhibita, conducont ad tumorea
frigidos scorbnticos lentosqof v4issipandos."

It is also recommended in dropsy in all stages, by both Boer*
haave and Haller : " Folia ejusjjgpocta conyeninnt in hydrope."

Its seeds are good in cosyjhiuof long standing, and diseases of
the chest: " Semina Bfosun^in tussi inveterate et puimonum
morbis."— Boerbaare.

Linnaeus mentions- ^that ,(he common people, in times of
scarcity, make bread of the fined roots, with a little meal.

The Laplanders also feed $eir cattle with the dried roots*

Respecting the dose, Halfy says that a drachm of the powder
of the leaves or stem, taken as a dose, opens the body, and
often produces voji^ing^ bn^EJoef^up f peaks of two handfuls
at a time. As this, plant loses its qualities by drying, like many
other herbs potenejwhejuinesfy it/wiU,no* A*eadily obtain much
rank as a medicine, ^ber^in^winter, as in summer, remedies
are wanted ; but still I think it merits more attention than it has
■u**,jr<& Weired from <EngUs£ physicians. n ■

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INDIAN PINK.

SP1GELIA MARILANQICA.

Class Y. Pentandria. Order!. Monogynia.
Essbvt. Gnv. Chab. Corolla foahel-sh&ped : Capsule twin, two-celled,

many-seeded.
8psc. CaAa. SUm sqaare : Lcmw opposite.

DESCRIPTION.
This plant has a perennial fibrous root, whence rise single
stems, beset with opposite oral-lanceolate entire leaves, and
crowned with a spike of tabular nionopetaloos red flowers, har.
ing five stamina and one pistil* Each flower is succeeded by
two round united biralTular capsules, containing sereral small
seeds.

HI8TORY.

This plant is perennial, and grows wild in the southern parts
of North America.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

The root is celebrated as anthelmintic, particularly for the
expulsion of lumbrid from the alimentary canal, and it often
affords relief where no worms are discharged. Some order it in

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. • INDIAN PINK.s 103

doses of ten or fifteen grains, while others give it in drachm doses,
alleging that the nervous affections it sometimes produces more
readily happen from small doses, as the large ones often purge
or puke: some prefer the form of infusion. An emetic is ge-
nerally premised ; and its purgative effect is assisted by some
suitable additions. Infnsed in wine, it has been found useful
in intermittents. Dr. Barton recommends it in the insidious re*
mitring fever of children, which often lays the foundation for
hydrocephalus.

Id the year 1754, a letter from Dr. Lining, physician at
Charles-town, North Carolina, was published in the first volume
of the Edinburgh Physical and Literary Essays, in which he men-
tions that this root is a most excellent remedy against worms ; and
says that it is given either in powder or in infusion in boiling
water, but that the powder is the most efficacious ; thai the dose
to a child of three years of age was twelve grains in powder,1 or
a scrapie in infusion. As it has no taste, it may be mixed With
milk, or given to children in the form of tea. Doctor1 Lining ad.
rises to add some rhubarb to it to keep the body open, and also
a few drops of some of the essential oil of rue, orsabin, or
wormwood, to prevent vertiginous effect, or other alarming, sym-
ptoms, although unattended with actual danger, and which some-
times come on after taking this medicine. * He usually repeated
the medicine morning and evening for several days, with the
expulsion of worms ; and such cases as were mistaken for worms
thereby were remarkably relieved ; and he conceives this remedy
.as very desirable, from its want of taste, and certain efficacy
and, upon the whole, one of the most harmless worm medicines*

Where any alarming symptom came on, which arose from 'a
too large dose, as vertigo, pain of the forehead and eyes, or
slight convulsions, these became relieved by a little weak brandy
and water, or a drop or two of some essential oil in some pep*
permint water, or a glass of wine.

Dr. Garden, in the year 1771, published a further account of
this medicine, in the third volume of the same Essays, in which
be says, that, previous to its use, it is necessary to give a vomit,
or a purge of rhubarb and calomel, which renders its application
safe, and removes all danger of convulsions of the eyen9 &c ;
and that when these symptoms come on, it is proper always to
give a common purge to remove the disagreeing medicine lodged
in die bowels. He recommends giving to children from eight

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104 INDIAN PINK*

,_■ grains of the powder to: a scrapie, or .more, end to adults from
~, sixty to seventy gifting; and in infusion to tfie dose of tifo,
.. th^ee, or. four drachms a day ; observing, that he has known
,, hajfa{ drachm pf this ropt purge as brisk! y as the same quantity
. pf rhubarb £ that be never, fpund it do good, unless where it $A
- PWe ; *ad that he bad tried it with advantage in seveialbundrpds
1 pf casefL He .makes this reipark, that by keeping, this medicine
lost considerably of its rirtues ; for forty grains of the .ropt,
. wjuch ^ajl not been. gathered above two months, operated as

ftrongly as syrty which had been kept for fifteen, months.

-:/.:. :Df*. Hope, of Edinburgh, in his Clinical Observations, men-

^. tion* Ju*< having, used this medicine, and found, it; to be a good

;, antMrinti* ^ccqrpliog to Lining, thirty large, worms jQttie

•s Arete). wjer«.at puce voided by a negro girl by fhe use pf £his

-, roo^ Dr. Home gave # to eight parents, three of .whom pfaped

f worms; t^e other fire 4id not, tyut were reKejre4 / KH* #)ose

.* complaints wlqch wena thought to have proceeded from worms.

r . To children, of eight years of age he- gave ten grains of {he pow-

v der, twice a day ; and to adults half a drachm, four time* a day:

„ it produced no vertigo, dimneqa. of the sight, convulsion of the

syjBS, or any other alarming symptqm, but prored only purgative*

T^is medicine has not cpme into general practice, owing to

thet alarming effects .said sometimes to have ,aris^n from it, as

likewise, to its loss of virtues from keeping; buf; growing iptj

well in this country, it deserves io be cultivated here, and \Mb

, fair, to be a very useful addition to our arms against disease, t In

, a few ca^« only I have seen aqy alarm produced j andas thisspon

went oflf^ and the patients were relieved of worms, an£ that nasty

fisc# slime, in wlpch they are engendered, I am inclined myself

to think well of this remedy.

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•

SCAMMONY BINDWEED.

CON VOL VULUS- SC AMMONIA.

ClauY. Pentandria. Order I. Monogynta*
Essemt. Gen. Char; Coroda campanulate, plicate : 'Stigmas two :' &$f*l»

bilocular : Cells two-seeded.
Spec. Char. Leaves sagittate, behind truncate : Flower* on slender pedun-
cles, two or three together*

DESCRIPTION.

The root is thick and large like bryony, black on the surface
and white. within, and it is fall of an acrid milky juice; from
tfcu arise stalks weak and trailing, three or four feet high, and
beset with triangular leares like those of the common field bind-
weed. The flowers grow from the axillae of these, are large,
bell-shaped, and whitish, with a purplish or yellowish tinge. The
seed-Yessel is of a pointed form, and the seeds themselves an-
gular and blackish.

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106 SCAMMONY BINDWEED.

HISTORY.

This scammony convolvulus is a climbing perennial plant,
which grows in Syria, Mysia, and Cappadocia., The roots,
which are very long and thick, when fresh contain a milky
juice. This is obtained by removing the earth from the tipper
part of the roots, and cutting off the tops obliquely. The milky
juice which flows out is collected in a small vessel sunk in the
earth at the lower end of the cut. Each root furnishes only a
few drachms; but the produce of several parts i^ adde&together,
and dried in the sun. This is the true and unadulterated scain-
mony. It is light, of a dark gray colour, but becomes of a
whitish yellow. when touched with the wet finger, is shining in
its fracture, has a peculiar nauseous smell and bitter acrid taste,
and forms with water a greenish milky fluid, without any re-
markable sediment. In this state of purity it seldom reaches us,
but is commonly mixed with the expressed juice of the root, and
even of the stalks and leaves, and often with flour, sand, or
earth. The best to be met with in the shops comes from Aleppo,
in light spongy masses, having a heavy disagreeable smell, fria-
ble, and easily powdered, of a shining ash colour verging to
black ; when powdered, of a light gray or whitish colour. An
inferior sort is brought from Smyrna in more compact ponderous
pieces, with less smell, not so friable, and less easily powdered,
of a darker colour, not so resinous, and full of sand and other
impurities.

A resin is the principal constituent of scammony. Sixteen
ounces of good Aleppo scammony give eleven ounces of resin
and three aud a half of watery extract.

MEDICAL USE.

Scammony is an efficacious and strong purgative. Some have
condemned it as unsafe and uncertain, a full dose proving some-
times ineffectual, whilst at others a much smaller one occasions
dangerous inflammation and gripes. This difference, however, is
owing entirely to the different circumstances of the patient, and
not to any ill quality or irregularity of operation of the medicine:
where the intestines are lined with an excessive load of mucus,
the scammony passes through without acting upon them ; but
where the natural mucus is deficient, a small dose of this or any
other resinous cathartic irritates and inflames. Many have en-

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SCAMMONY BINDWEED. 107

dm? oared to diminish the activity of this drag, and to correct
its imaginary virulence, by exposing it to the fumes of salphor,
dissolving it in acids, and the tike ; but these only destroy a part
of the medicine, without making any alteration in the rest.
Scammooy in substance, judiciously managed, stands not in need
of any corrector : if triturated with sugar, or with, almonds, it
becomes sufficiently safe and mild in its operation. It may like-
wise be conveniently dissolved, by*trituration, in a strong de-
coction of tiquorice, and the solution then poured off from .the
feces. The common dose of scammony is from three to twelve
grains*

The action of cathartics have been variously considered by
medical men* Some have entertained that this arises by amall
•picnte irritating the sensible coats of the bowels ; and these Re-
sinous cathartics are the more powerful on this account; and it
certainly is a curious fact, the mild operation tfiat scammony pro-
duces, with some other cathartics, when triturated with sugar, or
blunted with the almond. It is generally given in cold phlegmatic
habits, and forms the chief ingredient of those family draughts
and pills so commonly used to obviate habitual costiveness.

Take of scammony, in powder, grains 10,

■ blajicbed almonds « drachm 1,
cinnamon water - - ounce 1,

- syrup of ginger - - drachm 1 :

Rub down the scammony with the almonds first, then add the
syrup and cinnamon water gradually. For a purging draught,
to be taken early in the morning*
Take of scammony. in powder • grains 10, .

■ socotrine aloes - - • scruple 1,
Spanish soap - - - - drachm 1£*

essential oil of cloves - drops 3,

■ .. syrup of ginger - a sufficient quantity :

Make thirty pills. Take three going to bed.

It forms also a chief ingredient in the famous basilic-powder,
as it is called, so serviceable for removing what is commonly
tanned pot-belly in children.

Take of scammony, in powder,

calomel,

. antimooial powder, equal parts, grains 2,

- cream of tartar - - - • grains 10:

To be taken in currant jelly an hour after breakfast every other

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(,l08 tWMMHVtrttfiaiHtMn.

J*kY. < II- tfltWten'ti ot tally purge tot winity which-*

^Will ^ri*lifc*tie harm.

■ The g*»t Bteitaafrettiys; that this plant is> as excetteatwe^dy

uagaflnst the dropsy, provided the tiscera are good : 'f-Est^laata

''liifdattstiauf ctfn*ra hydropcny modo ffeeera sint dma;" r cfle

1 gate rh# flowers t ^ Fieres recedes ad vidian* dhflidaunwmesti
imnVofeo'et acetb fortissimo snrsum deompqae puigaat."
"Many-ph^sicianfe 'hare entertained- great fears '«etpoetiag4hit

"remedy. -BoerhaaTesays; it quickly j if too* freely} gUeoycoawarta
the bfood into* Water : «* Si-auoeus -ex wdic^esprimatar^ 'tern
habetor succus scammonii, hie succus sanguinem in aqwna<mto
contertit, et hinc yene6atu« e«t, si mgfla'«opia assumatur."

1 But hi moderate dotes it is gooeY against 'tbwbilev «ndu» a-hy.

- drogogueta flenfore water i u $e* «<cau*e e^Uwbeatar, bam;op-

* titae eonrenit, ubiporgamram, aqua ducanda; etbills." » ifare-

* ctotnmeiids it iri tothtna: « Cdmfacit » asrthmate." Hofbann

°als* Had dreadful apprehensions respeeting' this reaiedy. ^He

'• eay* he never1 employed it; hot ever 1*111; fcfcoMng alway* to

■^ abstain front cotiiqutttto poisons ? t'figomwoquara in prax^mea

in tistf itabui, nee in posterain'habebo; m& temper «b istfais-
modi yeneois ooiliqtfatrrki abstinent." '* Nevertheless^ as a drastic
purgative, in cold habits^ it is very tfsefully employed*

PREPARATIONS.
The Royal London College order the following preparations :
Electuary op Scammomt. {Electuaiinm&ammoniL. L.)

Take of scammony, in ponder, one oiuace and m half;

»' doves,
■ 'ginger, of eachf six-drachms ;

■•* essential oil of caraway, half a drachm ;
■ ' syrifp of roses, ar Brack as is sufficient :
Mix the spice*, powdered together, * with the syrnp-f-theii add
the scammony, and lastly the oil of caraway.
This electuary is -a' warm brisk purgative. > A drachm: -and a
' ' half ooniaiaf 4f teca grains of scammony.

Compound Powdxr ojt Scammoyt. (Potvte Scammonii com-
posltufl. L.)

Take of scammony,

hard extract of jalap, of each two ounces ;

— ginger, half an ounce :

Powder them separately! and mix* them.

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scAMMoarr BUrtwE***- 100

The Edinburgh College thus direct :
Take of scammony,

■ super-tartmte of potass* equal parts ?
Rub them together to a rery fine powder.

In the first of these twrapositions the scammony is combined
with another purgatire mare actiye than itself, and in the other
with one much less so; which difference matt be attended to in
prescription. The ginger, is an useful addttiony and will render
\t lets apt to gripe. The dose is from fire to ten grains*

PotfrouNi) Powder of Scammony wmfA&cga* (Pulfis
Scammonii compositns cum Aloe. L.)

Take of scammony, six drachms ;
- hard extract of jalap,

■ socotrine aides*, of each an ounce and a half ;
— : ginger, half an ounee :

Powder them separately, and mix them.

Here we hare a combination of three powerful purgatires of
the same kind $ bat what advantage these compositions have o?er
the ingredients taken separately, is npt xery. apparent. Of the
present, from fire to ten grains is a sufficient dose for a costire
habit

Powjwa-of Sgamnoot with CixoMW-,, (Pafri* StfMnmjtmii
cum Calonabae^JL)sNx

Take of scammony, half an ounce,;.

calomel,

■ ■ double refined sugar, of each, two. djra£hm& :
Powder them separately, and then mix them*

In this case the calomel may often be found to be, an useful
addition to the scammony, as its mode of action is different* a}-*
though it coincides with it in the general effect The do&ei*,
from fire to ten grains, used in costhre. habUs,, and to remote
mlthy sordes from the bowehu

It also properly enters into the composition of the Compound,
Extract or Colocynth (Exiiactum Colocynthidfe cpmj>oji-i,
turn, L.); Compound Powder qf Senna (Pulris Sennas com-
positus, L.); ^ills or Aloes and Colocynth (Pilutse Aloes
cum Colocynthide).

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JALAP BINDWEED.

CONVOLVULUS JALAPA.

Class V. Pentandria. Ordtr I. Monojrynia.
CtsBinr. G«r. Char. Leaves ovate, subcordate, rtlkwe underneath.

DESCRIPTION.
i ins plant has thick, fleshy, radish- like roots, full of a milky
juice ; the stalks are numerous, twining for snpport, and rising
to about ten or twelve feet ; the leaves vary, being heart-shaped,
angular, oblong, or pointed, smooth, and stand alternately
upon long footstalks ; the flowers are usually two, on forked
peduncles, bell-shaped, entire, plicate, of a reddish colour on
the outside, and of a dark purple within. The calyx is com-
posed of five small oval leaves. Each flower terminates in a
wrinkled, roundish, pentagonal, umbilical fruit, about the size
of a pepper. corn, including a white kernel.

HISTORY.
Jalap is a climbing perennial species of convolvulus. It is an
inhabitant of Mexico and Vera Cruz, from which it was first
imported in 1710. It is now cultivated in the botanical garden

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JALAP BINDWEED; III

of Charlestown, and flourishes in oar own stores. When
recent, the root is white and lactescent; but it is brought to us
in thin transrerse slices, which are co?ered with a blackish
wrinkled bark, and are of a dark gray colour internally, marked
with darker or blackish stripes. It has a naujeous smell and
taste; and when swallowed it affects the throat with a sense of
heat, and occasions a plentiful discharge of saliva. When pow-
dered it has a yellowish gray colour.

Such pieces should be chosen as are most compact, hard,
weighty, dark-coloured, and abound most with dark circular »
striae and shining points ; the light, whitish, friable worm-eaten
pieces must be rejected.

Slices of briony root are said to be sometimes mixed with those
of jalap ; but these may be easily distinguished by their whiter '
colour, and less compact texture.

Neuman got from 7680 parts, 2480 alcoholic, and then by
water 1200; and inversely, 2160 watery, besides 360 which
precipitated during the evaporation, and 1440 alcoholic; the
tincture extracted from 7680 parts, gate, by precipitation with
water, 1920.

MEDICAL USES.

Jalap in substance, taken in a dose of about half a drachm,
proTes an effectual, and in general a safe purgative, performing
its office mildly, seldom occasioning nausea or gripes ; but in hy-
pochondriacal disorders, and hot bilious temperaments, it gripes
violently, if the jalap be good ; but rarely takes due effect as a
purge. An extract originally made by water purges almost uni-
versally, but weakly ; and at the same time has a considerable
effect by urine : what remains after this process gripes violently.
The pure resin, prepared by alcohol, occasions most violent
gripings, and other distressing symptoms, but scarcely proves
at all cathartic: triturated with sugar, or with almonds, into
the form of an emulsion, or dissolved in spirit, and mixed with
syrups, it purges plentifully in a small dose, without occasion,
rag much disorder : the part of the jalap remaining after the se-
paration of the resia, yields to water an extract, which has no
effect as a cathartic, but operates powerfully by urine.

Jalap contains both a gummy and resinous principle, an ounce
yielding, according to Cartheuser, about half an ounce of a
gammy extract, and about two scruples of a resinous; neither

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o( them are tq strong and rPujrpaJJTe as wljeja mixed ; hence It
is usually prescribe^ in substance from ten to fifteen grains: or
it,is usefully added in cold habits to accelerate the action of rhu-
barb, and in this form is found frequently to expel worms* being '
acfrairably adapted for. the purpose. In Tery robust country
habits, jalap is asaijc and good purge, producing its effects pow-
erfully and certainly. In the rheumatism it is a Tery excellent '
purge; and is usefully employed mixed with two grains of gam*
bojdge.in the dose of a scruple to carry off water in dropsies, at
n$I| as when combined with four pr five grains of calomel, being
ftjpowgrful drastic purge, Hoffmann, thought it highly improper
for children and for weakly habits; but Cullen says, if it be
triturated, before, exhibition* wjth any hard powder, (and the cry •
stals of tartar are the fittest fQr the, purpose,) it will operate in
smaller doses than when taken by itself, and at the same time
ac,t Tery moderately, and without . griping. When triturated
w,jth hard sugar, in small dqses it is a safe purge for children ;.
and in this way they will receJTeit^ the. jalap haying little taste.

PREPARATIONS,
Its medical preparations are :

Tikcture op Jalap. (TincturaConYolruli Jalapae. E. Tine*
tura Jal^pff. 1+ x}0
Take of jalap, iu.co*rae. powder, three .ounces (eigh£ ounces L,,

diluted .alcohol, fifteen ounces (two. pints, I*. DO.:

Bigest for serea days, and .strain, the tincture through; paper.

Alcohol was formerly ordered for the preparation of. this tine-
tare ; but diluted, alcohol is a preferable menstruum, as it djs-
soWes the actjre constituents of the jalap, as well as pure alco-
hol, and 'is less stimulating.

The. water is an excellent addition, as it extracts so much ofj
die gummy parts as correct the resinous, which are more active,
and by itself Tery griping ; and this tinctnre so made may be
taken by itself, or mixed with syrup, from a drachm to half an
ounce : but it is more frequently added, from the quantity of a
drachm or two, to any purgative draught to quicken its opera-
tion.

The Extract is thus prepared :

Take of jalap, reduced to powder, one pound;

■■ of rectified spirjts of wiqe, four pints :

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JALAP BJNfcWEED. 113

Mix, and digest them for four days; pour off the tincture, and
boil the residue which remains in ten pints of distilled water,
and reduce it to two ; then strain both the tincture and decoc-
tion through a cloth, evaporate them. till they begin to thicken,
and reduce them, by gentle evaporation, till they are of the
consistence of pills.

By this means both the resinous and gummy matters are ex.
tracted, and it is employed in doses of from four to twelve
grains. Triturated with equal parts of sweet almonds, its ope*
ration is rendered mild.

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COMMON PERUVIAN BARK TREE,

CINCHONA OFFICINALIS.

Clou V. Pentandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Embnt* Gaif. Char. Corolla funnel-tbape, petals woolly at their edges t

Capsule beneath, two-celled with parallel dissepiment.
Srac. Char. Leave* elliptic, underneath pubescent: limb of the corolla

woolly* _

DESCRIPTION.

The tree which produces the bark varies in its she* Wood-
▼ille describes it as very lofty, and sending off large branches.
Its lea?es are oblong, three inches in length, and about an inch
and a half in breadth. The flowers stand in clusters at the ex.
tremities of the branches, and are composed of a single tubular
petal, whose border is difided into fire segments. These are
succeeded by capsules of the shape of an olive, which when ripe
split open lengthwise, discoTering two cells divided by a mem*
braue, and contain each a number of jmall flatted seeds sur«
reunded with a membranous edge.

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COKKOX KftUTUlT Bat* T*JtBo Jlfif

HISTOftY.

The baric commonly called Penman bark* of which sheEdm*
borgh College enumerates three farietms ;

1» The common, 4he yellow of some foreign authors*

2. lire yellow, the orange of some foreign author* ,

*. The red.

By the recent obserrations of the 9paftish boteoiafts, it Is nowf
howerm> ascertained that these are not only the mirks of distinct
species of cinchona, bat that probably each of them is iadiscrU
arinately taken from sereral dtffarent species* <-ftnk and Paron
hare described ifteesi species natsrtea of Peru and Chili } ao4 i<
to them we add those of TaJfctla and. VaW, twenty^five dfstiacj
speciee hate been described, of which seren have bee* fpuq4
in North America in the neighbourhood of Santa- F6* hy Mutis,
Cinchona, considered as a genus, is1 a roouateiaoua tree, and if
sever found in the plains. It grows to a great height, and for?
meriy its trunk was of tea thicker than a man's body. But since
Us bark has come into snch general use, few trees are to be spea,
thicker than the arm. Indeed there b reason to fear that it wHI
become stsH more scarce, as no attention is paid td its cultiva^
tioo, and the trees always die after being stripped of their bark.
This operation is performed in the dry seaden* from September
to Norember. The bark is then carefully dried in the sun, and
packed in skins, which contain from 100 to 160 pound*, and are
called by the Spaniards xerttnt. In these, coarse and fine pieces
of the same kind of bark are promiscuously miaed, bat they am
afterwards sorted.

1. Common pale bark. This is said to be the bark of/ the
Cmckon* cordifbUa of Mutis, under which he iaclude* the Ajr>
ssJOj ooaJtOy purpart*, and micranth* of the Flora* Perui iaoa,
the ojpctnaHt ef Uunstus, and the pubtscen? of Vahl.

In commerce, we. find several varieties of the common pajf
bark, the most t csaneknbk of which areolae gnttied be*k> which
names from Loxa, and the flat bark* from Guanace* . ,; <

The bark which comes from Loxa consists of thin, singly of
donbly rolled, pieces, four or fire inches leogv and scarcely; a
fine in thickness j externally rough, of a grayish brown ooloue,
and generally entered with a kind of ftoheq ; intemsJly of *oior»
namon colour. Its fracture should not be fibrous or powdery,
bnt eren and sHetng. it hat a poonJie* aramntic sme% and a
pieman^ bitter, sntrinmsnft teste. :

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116 common rsftuviAir basic ?«eb.

- The bark which comes from Guanaco consists of much thicker,
coarser) and flatter pieces ; externally of a dark brown: or al-
most black colour, but internally it has the same cinnamon co-
lour ; and in its resinous fracture, smell, and taste, it exactly
resembles the former. When genuine, both varieties arc excel-
lent remedies, although the former be generally preferred on the
continent and the latter in Britain.

2. Yellow Peruvian bark. This variety of bark has only
been introduced into European practice since 1790, when it
was sent from Santa Fe by Mutta. It is the bark of his Gnu
chona latifoUa, under which he includes the nitida, glabra, or
lanceolate, fusca, or rosea, anguttifbtia, or tunita, the nffkamBi
of Condamine and Vahl. It consists of pieces about six inchet
in length, thicker, and less rolled up, than the common bark.
Its internal surface is of a deeper red* It sometimes want* the
epidermis, which is often as thick as the bark itself. It is lighter
and more friable than the farmer variety ; its fracture is fibrous;
and when reduced to powder, its colour is paler. Its taste k
much more bitter, astringent, and stronger, but its smell is
weaker. Its decoction when hot is redder, but when coW,
paler. Its solution strikes a deeper colour with sulphate of iron*
It contains more of the active constituents than either of the
others, but less gum than the common, and less resin than the
red. It is much more powerful than the preceding species, and,
according to Mutis, is the only one which is directly febrifuge.
The epidermis should always be removed before it be pow.
dered.

3. Red Peruvian bark is obtained from the Cinchona nagni-
fi&a of Ruiz and Pavoo, the obltmgjfolia of Mutts. It occuts
generally in much larger, thicker, flatter pieces, but sometimes
also in the form of quills. It is heavy, firm, sound, and dry ;
friable between the teeth ; does net separate into fibres ; and
breaks, net shivery, but short, dose, and smooth* It has three
layers: the outer is thin, rugged, of a reddish brown cole**,
Imt frequently covered with messy matter ; the middle is thicker,
taore compact, darker coloured, very resinous, brittle, and yields
first to* the {Mttlet the inmost '» more woody, fibrous, and of
* brighter red. Its powder is reddish, like that of Armeai*m
'bole.

! Its astringency and bittacnessiare mote intense, and it contains
more resin than the pale bark. It is not, hswersr, allowed bay

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c*Mf»* fjwuyuw s*«k lmsa. 117

M*t»^ l^JiUtiMi^owbark, ditecdjfebrif*^ It is said
to be more frequently adulterated*

The great price of cinchona beck has sometimes tempted dis-
honest men to adulterate it with other similar and less powerful
harks, and, what is still more blameable* with genuine bark,
from which the active, constituents have been entirely extracted
by decoction with water, ..

In selecting cinchona bark, y*e must therefore take care> that,
besides the characteristics already noticed, it be dense, heavy,
and dry, not musty or spoiled by moisture, and that a decoction
made of it have a reddish colour whtfn warm, bat when cold
become paler, and deposit a brownish red sediment Those
pieces whose taste is simply intensely bitter, or very astringent,
or nauseous, or merely mucilaginous, whose; surface is smooth
or polished, of a dark colour, or pale yellow, or red, which
are tough or spongy, wbose bark is fibrous, woody, or powdery,
and their internal colour white or gray, are to be rejected*

There are few vegetable substances which hare been subjected
to analysis more frequently, and by abler chemists, thau the
cinchona bark. But from the difficulty of the subject, and
from essential differences in the chemical properties of several
varieties confounded under one denomination, contradictory re-
sults have arisen, and our knowledge of the subject is still im-
perfect. Vauquelin has lately done much to lessen this confu-
sion, by showing that there are three, if not four, classes of
cinchona bark, differing essentially in chemical constitution;
but unfortunately he has not been able to. designate with bo-
tanical accuracy the individuals he found to belong to each.

The 4r*t class precipitate astringents, bnt not gelatine.

The second precipitate gelatine, but not astringents.

The third precipitate both astringents and gelatine ; and,

Lastly, some barks confounded with these precipitate neither
astringent nor gelatine; but these Vauquelin, viewing the genus
chemically, does not consider as cinchonas.

Individuals in each of the three first classes are capable of
curing intermittent*, which shows how insufficient our analysis,
in its present state, is from explaining the connexion between '
the medical virtues and chemical properties of this remarkable
genus. Besides these principal differences, on which Vauquelin
founds his classification, cinchona barks vary in the effects of
many chemical agents* The infusions of some kinds redden

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IB c#a*oit yutum* fcim*

taewselej others do net em%ct it; tome impart a deep <*feor to
water, others very little ; some' affect certain Metallic solutions,
which others do notgmnd sWdawttsjeaaof soaw kMi remain
sransporqnt after becoming cold, others grow turbid as* they
cool, aad deposit a copious precipitate. The JoMowiag mode
df analysis,, however, wilt give an Mea of the composition of the
'second class : — The cold infusion has a red -colder, more or lees
brown or yellow ; bitter teste, with mow of less aetrtngenoj ;
becoming in a few days covered with a green motikl. On eta*
■orating the infusion, if k be permitted to coolt repeatedly
daring the process, it becomes turbid, and deposits a precipitate
for several times. If these precipitates be separated, and the'
supernatant fluid, after it ceases to become turbid on cooling, bo
evaporated to the consistence of a soft extract, and treated with
alcohol, there remains only a viscid substance of a brown co-
lour, almost without bitter taste, insoluble m alcohol, perfectly
soluble in water, not rendering it turbid on cooling, and which,
by spontaneous evaporation, is analysed into a saline mass, con*
sisting of reddish brown crystals, hexakedral, rhemboida), or
square, and a mucilaginous matter which remains dissolved in the
mother-water.

The precipitate which is deposited on the cooling of die con*
eeotrated infusion, when dried, has a red brown colour and an
intensely bitter taste. It is readily soluble in alcohol, especially
when heated. The tincture is decomposed by water, and yields
crystals on spontaneous evaporation. It is sparingly and onfy
partially soluble in cold water,7 more copiously and completely
in boiling water,' which, however, again becomes turbid on cool*
ing. Its solution reddens tincture of turnsole, grows mouldy in
a few days, does not precipitate tartar emetic, or solution of
gelatine; is not visibly acted upon by acids, but with alkalies
b coagulated into a thick whitish matter, becoming brown and
somewhat hard by exposure to the air, softening with heat, and
acquiring the ductility and silky gloss of turpentine*

The saline mass which crystallizes from the mother, water, on
being purified by repeated solutions and crystallisations, is ob-
tained in the form of white square or rhomboidal plates, often
grouped, with almost no taste, soluble in about five waters at
*0*, insoluble in alcohol, destructible by fire, not decomposed
by ammonia, acetate of lead, or nitrate of silver, but by the
iicd alkalies, and the exotic and sulphuric acids, and by iufusie*

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MM*)* **kx»*k* *ktut mm* If*

often, and of ten* tsatote efef a^i^ ThitswVM ¥«nJ
qotJhi ds»oa*ored t» oh^< of time* MdiMMtA wMek oty-
>ta plate*, heieteryndd ta^ fomtWl*M*Jttictyt'
tatafaetPM* with the alkalies nnfl envtfsVtnni eW
sk* pisdasmtii th* niimtss of silte*, aieroety* e* haaV M. VnnV
sjnefcsn 1ms gtotuH the lute erf JUnto aeat ( 4Mt t>tklft Wrtdi
lead we to snppose theft if was obtained from Kino* 1* appeal*
toiittMH ought to 4e netted the tiftehotikl aeM* font*!*
systematic am* of the fame front Whose berk -M his bee* frsir

•fcfUfcHill -^

• M. Veiiqoeltn has Also analysed the barks of the <tafatf>
paSmvM- and e^ltfcta/t*, which be /efers to the first da** Ift
dhnort eeery respect the atfetysk agrees wtoi that Ho#' deteited,'
except in the obeerieel properties of the deposit frettrtae to***
iafasson, which in the present instant* preiecev A
p*eetpfcase in the infusion of nat-gatls, ntf Wdl in tarter
nitrate of niereary. These depdsfts* M observes,
dHfar from wen* Iw beiftg eolebteui water, h* edds an* in hiV
kasios, in aetmg as stdye, 4n decomposing metsiltte solutions,1 etftf
ha their watery setatto* becoming nrtwrWy. He is iitdtaedto
eossnder then as * petnnar Vegetable prlnetyte, wet yet senV
oiewtiy csassieed.

Having ekes detailed the latest efcpAimdrtttf oH Ms im?*rtaiA?
enhjopt, it may not he sn?erf eons*** notieetk* ebservattotis of
preoediag ehenm*s, ifrUh** v*J# of iferiaertng'the history of the1
s*aty*ss of eroehon* wore perfect ■• Ntntnatid get:rYein,f60br
pares ef ednunod tiaehon* MO eieohelie, and afterward* *#
watery e«t»*et; Mdfctereety, ISO watery and 600 sifconoJitf;'
fro* which H might be inferred, that there tfert enoWtoOftern*
tntnnie in alcohol only, 060 In wafer envy, an* 60 'Ui"40 hi
ewtb; het the proportion of the last to certainly 'fcfe wnWK
Foorcrey extracted from 6W part* of red hark, 38 ty Wa4er,'
end afterwavdt 94 by alcohol. MsrabefH got from :r f^oamf of
yeH#w hnrk, 4t4 gmini of gow, 470 of extractrte mucont tnart.
to, tM ef eitMoife resinous matter, and 195 of retin, besides"
saftas seattert, kc Lewis observed that the deeocfioh became
terhid on cooilag, and that the preeipttate watf toloble in alco-
hol. He also pesnted eat the detfp green colour Which decoc«
tiean of csachooa acqaire from the addition of ehaly beates. Dr.
Irving afterwards found that recent decoctions gate a black ee*
hsnr, while these which bad been kept some time gare a green.

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HK> 9ftmpN,?B*tnri*jr mi

Inttyjtfyfthat thfe t^rogifeiablaek, whtte.AdeoldinfsV
sJoagtotfAgreen; and that, fe:aU cseeswhejK'aa exeat* of the
chalybeate fiinsed, a, green colour is produced* The
have been, limbed to the presence of taenia; bat they.
lUtlext*emblen*>io 4* intensity and dorabUity of the bine eo«
lourprodaced in iofusionaef gall-nuts, And other powerful astrin*
geni*v,,Ttiqy, however, show that the principle on which Ahm
oolouf\4tP0ads k mere soluble in alcohol. end in boiling watetv
t)MQ la cold, and- that it is rery destructible. , It was loog be*
tiered that cinchona was a powerful astringent; but after fie-
fuin's discovery of gelatine as a test of the- principle of aasjrin-
gancy, Br* Matoa found that cinchona contained rery little
tann|n» ,In my experiments, solution of gelatine did aetajfect
the coi4 . iuf us^oo, but precipitated (he tiectare* dilated wife
water and filtered, slightly, and the filtensAdecoctson .copienslya
The preqppitale in the last case was filamentous, and exactly ire*
scmbled tiiat produced with gelatine by ief*iion*ei galls. Henca
it apneact that the tannin in cinchona is much less soluble in al«
oohol and in cold water, than in hot. Dc Mates* discovered
H^ in$isk>a; of cinchona was precipitated by infusion of nut*
galls* .Segufe, who afterwards made the same observation, osss*
eluded from it that cinchona contained gelatine, but erroneously y
as, I soon after proved. Infusion of #MI» is precipsmtod cepu
crawly, not only by the filtered decp^osv 0/ cinchona, bat also
by the infusion and tincture idilnted and Altered.; and as those
phenomena are inconsistent with the properties of gelatine or
a^scb, (the on)y other, principles, which, so Car as I know, pre*
cigifcte jmfusion of galls,) I conceived myself anthemed to
SAcribe $qm, to a. vegetable principle, net hitherto finsainart,;
soluble |p alcohol and in water* and called at cwohoatn. Segusa
sugftoseg that it was the tannin of the infusion of gnlk which.
fpfm^4 {foe precipitate in infusion of cinchona ; bat this is es>
tremejy doubtful 1 for, as I have mentioned in another work, a
decoction of cinchona is precipitated both by gelatine and galls,
and, w}ien saturated by either of these re .agents, is still acted
upou by the other ; but an infusion of galls, after being satn*
rated with gelatine, does not act on a decoction of cinchona.
Now, if gelatine deprived the infusion of galls of no other
principle but tannin, it would follow, that a decoction of ©in-
qbone contains both tannin and a principle prempitable by tan*
040, which can scarcely be the case; and indeed we do not .at

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common fbbuviah jam tw»* lffl

present see amy way* of accoowtfag far the facts, but by sop.
pawing that tbegeU* aad cinchona contain each of them tannin,
aad another prhaeipie, of a different nature in each, not preci-
aetaMe-by tan**, hoi by each ether.

It is aatbfaetory to and that great matter of analysis, Vaoque*
fin, drawing nearly the seme conclusion /rem his observations :—
It wouid seem that it is to the taenia of the oak bark and
galls that this principle (ctecaoain) unites te form the precipi*
tales observed in the infusions of these substances ; bat as this
principle eajats hn soeao species which at the same time preeipU
late glue, k is doubtful that it really unites to the tannin of the
eak back, or that the principle in the other species of cinchona
which precipitate gHw, is actually tannin. But the one or the
other of these suppositions mast be correct, as the infusions of
the two species precipitate eecl* other. Dr. Ir?ing obtained
from oiachooa a saaall pettioo of volatile oil, on which its aroma
depends ; and Foercroy aad other chemists hate observed, that
theevapoatakm of aa ioftfttoivor decoction of cinchona,
to the air, an. insoluble peHiele is farmed on the surface.
Fabbcwni ebeerved, that cinchona loses its solubility by long ex«
poenro to the air, and even by being reduced to very fine pow-
der; 100 parts of ctechoee, when bruised, yielding from 12 to
1* of extract, and when finely powderabf only 6 or 7 ; and that
cinchona destroys the emetic property of tartrate of antimony,
without losing its febrifuge virtues*

Bow little the analysis has hitherto accounted for the virtues
of cinchona, k evident from three of the latest writers referring
its virtues to totally different principles : Deschamps to the cin-
chonntfi of lime, two doses of which, of £6 grains each, accord,
lag te him cure every intermittent; Westring to the tanning
principle ; and Segain, on the contrary, to the principle which
ntadpteaes tannin.

MBDICAL U8B8.

On dead animal matter cinchona acts as an antiseptic, and on
the Irving body it acts moreover as a stimulant, tonic, and anti-
spasmodic. The discovery of its medical virtues was, in all pro-
bability, the result of accident. In fact, according to some, the
Peruvians learned its "use by observing certain animals afiected
with intermittents instinctively led to it ; or, according to others,
a Peruvian having aa ague, was cured by accidentally drinking
of a pool which, from some trees having fallen into it, tasted of

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tSB emmow wnitmAir yah*

cinchona: and its utatn gangrene it said 4o fetree^guteistf free*
its curing one Hi *o egueislr patient It bat ead:yafioet apptHa.
tioas. About the year 1440, from curing the kniy of the Spa*
nhh viceroy, the Comitissa del Chumoa* it was catted Carte* or
Pelvis Comitiss®, Cinchona, Ac ; from the interest wkioh c*r-
dkial de Logo and tke Jesuit fathers took 4a its distribution,
Gortatr or Pubis CartieaJfe de Lugo, Jetuitietfs, Hatruat, Ac. >
from the pfee* where it *as originally found, Peruvian berk, or
simply,' from its preeminence, Bark.

- On its first introduction into Europe* tt was reprebaeed by
ay unwnan t phyeiciaae, aad at diffamit p«rW«, loagaftar, It
considered as a dangerous remedy; but its character, te
process of thee, became universally astabUsbad.

It was irst introduced for the eate-of intermitteot foveas j sane
these, when it is properly enbiblteo\ it tereiy Ails to care. Bat
tbare bate been ooutiderable diiefencet of ofdoton with reger*
to the best mode of «tb*bltiea ; seme prefer gsVing It Jult baton*
the fit, soma during Iberfit^^otbers nemedlasaly after iC Seme,
again, order repeated dotes between the fite * and tint iaoda of
exhibition* although it may perhaps sometimes lead to the est*
pfeymeat of more bark than is oecettetyV »pon the wkola ap-
pears preferable* from being beat suited to most stomachs,' Tba
requisite quantity it very different io flietent cases jr and to many
vernal SatortaivteaU eieebooa seems even hardly nacetsary.

It is now gi? en from the very eonn»eu<fti«eJt%>f tba tnscatoj
wfthoat pre no us errataatftons, which are thought to n)tari the cere,
and to induce* they say, abdominal iinlammatiens, OcMraa^ jean*
dice, hectic, dropsy, ko.; symptom* formerly attributed to 'the
premature or immoderate use of the barb, but whkh are beat ohw
vhUed by its early and liberal use. It is- to bceonttoued not ou*f
till the paroxysms cease, bettiUthe natural appetite, ttrongcb,
and complexion return. It is then to be gredaafttf left<e#, aad
repeated at proper intervals to sece re. against a relapse, to which
there oftea seems to be a peculiar disposition, etpedaHjr wbea
the wind blows frost the east. Although, however* etacwatkai
rather counteracts tba effects of cinchona in the cunt of iaten-
mittenta, yet, previous to its use, It is often asbiseable to* csnptf
the alimentary canal, particularly tbe stomach) and oq tbitae*
count good effects are obtained from premising aa emetic

It 19 a medicine which teams not only suited to both fomed
and intent intermittent*, but to that state of fibre aa whkh all

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MtfYOK »ftftTJ»lA» > *A*K T»W. U3

periodical diseases seem tu> depend ; as periodical pain, inflamma-
tion, hswnorrhagy, spasm, cough, low of external sense, ftc.

Grneuona to now used by some in aH continued fevers ; at the
mm tine attention » paid to keep the bowels dear, and to pro*
mate, when necessary, the evacuation of tefandant1 bile, always,
however, so as to weaken 'the patient as little as possible.'

in continent tiaaH*pox It promotes languid eruption and sap*
juration, diminishes the fever, and prevents of corrects putres.
eenee ano gang reue.

- Br. Haygartb ba» lately extolled its nse in acute rheumatism,
from the very commencement, even without premising vetiesiev

In gangrenous sore. throats, and indeed in tiftry species of
gangrene, it is mofaft used, both externally and internally,
-lnoeutagiovs dysentery, after doe evacuation, it has been used,
taken internally and by injection, with and without opium.
* -In all those hemorrhagic* called passrre, and likewise in other
iac waned discharges; it is* much used ; and Hi certain undefined
eases of hemoptysis, some allege that It k remarkably effectual
when joined with an absorbent.

It is used for obriattafg the disposition to nervous and con-
vulsive diseases ; and some hare great confidence in it, joined
with sulphuric add, in eases of phthisis, scrofola, HLeondHf oned
ulcers, rickets, scurry, and in states of convalescence. In these
cases it is proper to conjoin it with a milk diet

In dropsy, not depending on any particular local affection, it
is often alternated or conjoined with diuretics or other evaeoants,
and by its early exhibition after the water is once drawn off, or
even begins to be freely discharged, a fresh accumulation is pre*
tented, and a radical cure obtained.

Peruvian bark may be exhibited,

1. In substance.

The best form of exhibiting this valuable remedy is in the state
of a very fine powder, in doses of from ten grains to two drachms
ftnd upwards* Muds and Zea say that two drachms of true
genuine bark, in powder, are sufficient to prevent the excess of
an intermittent, while, to produce the same effect, it requires fhe
decoction of two ounces. Nay, even the residuum of an info,
sion is capable of curing agues, provided it be given in a larger
ion than the entire powder* As it cannot be swallowed in the

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KM , common tnuru* baik tiuo

form of a. dry powder, it must either be <Uf*aed in some i
as water, wine* or milk, or, mixed with, some viscid su,bstanc9, a*t
currant jelly, lu taste* which is disagreeable to maoy people,
is best avoided by taking it immediately after it is mixed wMfe,
the vehicle. la this respect, therefore, it is better .for the p*-.
tients to ma it up themselves, than to, receive it from tb&apo-.
tbecary already made up, into a draught with some simple di-
stilled water, or into ao electuary with abrupt A much more*
important objection to giving cinchona in subptanoe is, that same,
stomachs will not bear it, from the oppression, and even ?ojnit.
ing, which in these cases it excites. We must eadeetov to
obviate this inconvenience by the addition of some aromatic, and;
by giving.it in small doses more frequently , repeated. If we are
unable .to succeed by these means, we must extract the moat
active constituents of the bark by means of some meojtfuefa*
It has therefore Jong teen * .pharmaceutical problem, to difeovork
which menstruum extracts the virtues of cinchona most com-
pletely. B*tt ,\t wonM bo contrary to analogy to suppose that,;
ks constituent principle* should subsist 90 intimately mixed as,
they must be in an organic product, without exerting upon each;
other some degree of chemical affinity, and forming combinations
possessed of new properties. Accordingly we and, whether it
arise fr^om this cause, or merely from the ttate of aggregation,
- that neither water nor alcohol extracts these constituents from,
cinchona bark in the. same quantity in which they are able to
dissolve them separately, and that we must have recourse to
direct experiment to determine the degree of action possessed,
by each menstruum upon it With this view, many experiments
have been made, and by very able chemists. But most of them
were performed when the science of chemistry was but in its
infancy ; and even at this time that branch of it which relates
to these substances is so little understood, that the results of the
latest experiments are far from conclusive*

% In infusion*

To those whose stomachs wilf not bear the powder, this is thw
best form of exhibiting cinchona bark. Water, at a given tem-
perature, seems capable of dissolving only a certain quantity of
its active constituents, and therefore we are not able to increase
the strength of an infusion, either by employing a larger quantity
of the bark, or allowing them to remain longer in contact. One

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eomroir TBntrmw yahktsbk; 12S

part of bark insufficient to saturate sixteen of water hi the course
of an hoar or two. To accelerate the action of the water, it if
usual to pour 11 boiHog hot upon the bark, to cover it up, and
allow it to cool slowly. After standing a sufficient length of
time, tie tafMon is decanted off for use. The propriety of this
proceat may, however, be doubted ; for If a cold infusion he
boiled, or even gently heated, it acquires a deeper colour, and
lets fall a resinous matter, in part insoluble in alcohol- and hi
water. The infusion in water is, however, liable to one very
great objection, that it cannot be kept even a rtry short time
without being decomposed and spoiled. Therefore, in seme in*
stances we prepare the infusion with wine; and it fortunately
happens that very often the use of tho menstruum is as much
iudkated at that of the solvent. Cinchona also prevents wine
from becoming add, bat in the course of a few days - throws
down its colouring matter, as nai-gatss and charted do.

3» In trouimn.
• The great activity of the menstruum in this preparation pre-
vents the bark from being given in sufficiently large doses to
exert its peculiar virtues. It is, however, a powerful stimulant.

4. In decoction.

Water of the tttnperatore of 21ft* is capable of dissolving a
much larger proportion of the soluble parts of cinchona bark
ti}an water at 60°. But the solvent powers even of boiling water
have their limits, and by protracting the decoction we do not
increase its strength, but rather, by diminishing the quantity of
the menstruum, we lessen the quantity of matter dissolved. Be-
sides, at a boiling temperature some of the active constituents
are dissipated, while others absorb oxygen rapidly from the at-
mosphere, and are converted into what seems to be an insoluble
and inert resinous substance.

5. In extract.

In this preparation we expect to possess the virtues of cin-
chona bark in a very concentrated state. The principal objec-
tions to its use are its great expense, and the decomposition and
destruction of the active constituents of the bark during the pre-
paration, even when most carefully conducted. Not above half
the weight of the dry extract is again soluble in water. It is
convenient for the formation of pills and boluses, but we would

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t9f oowwon PMtmnAif bam* «m

always prefer a feat infusion or decoction to any mijclare iw
winch the extract it reditsofred.

Externally, dnchotfa hark it need hi satotaftce, as an appli*
cation to ill-conditioned, carious, or gangrenous ulcers,

III the form of clyster H may he given in substance, daaectiaa*
aw attract The powder b used as a toetb*powdejr for spongy
and bleeding gum*, and the decoctioo is an eaceUent astringent
gargle or wash.

To increase the power of cinchona hark* or to direct its eft*
eacy to a particular purpose, or to correct sortie i
oocasionaHy produced by.H* k is foeqjuantly combined with <
remedies. When, it produces Totalling* carbonic add foraM aw
useful addition ; when it targes* opium ; when it oppresses the
stomach, aroaiatks; and when ifciaducee cottireness, rhubarb-

The choke of hark is of gmUimpertaaee. It was introdnaed
In the year 1*49 iatd Ear^tw by the Jesuits, who sold it at fra
for an immense price. This obtained it the 'name of Jesuits'
bark* Far a number ef years die bark, which b rowed up into
chart thick quills, with a rough coat, and a bright cinnamon co*
lour in the inside, which broke brittle, and wa» sound, had an
aromatic flavour, a bitterish astringent taste, with a degree of
aromatic warmth, was esteemed the best; twough some people
looked upon the large pieces of equal goodness.

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■an ' :

■

RED PERUVIAN BARK TREE.

CINCHONA RUBRA.

Duftiro the lime of the late war, i» the year 1779, the Hussar
frigate took a Spanish ship loaded principally with Peruriaa.
Why which was much larger, thicker, and of a deeper reddish,
colour than the ba*k;in common vie* Soon after it was brought
to London it was tried in St Bartholomew's hospital, and in
other hospitals about town, and was said to be more efficacious
than the quill back. This pat practitioners on examining into
the history of the bark, and on trying experiments with it, and
on making compared? e trials of its effects with those of the bark
hi common use, on patients labouring under intermittent com-
plaints.

In July 1782, Dr, William Saunders published an account of
this red bark, in which he says that the small quiU bark used in
England b either the bark o/ young trees, or of the twigs or*
hcaache»e/theoldeaee} and thai the large bark, called the red
Wrk from the deep colour, it the bark of the trunk of the old
trees: and he mentions a Mr. Arnot, who himself gathered the
htrk from the trees in Peru; and M. Condamlne, who gives ad

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It8 MED PERUVIAN BARK TREE- %

account of the tree in the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences
at Paris in the year 1738, who both say, that taking the bark
from an old tree effectually kills it ; but that most of the young
trees which are barked, recover, and continue healthy ; and that
for these reasons the Spaniards now barked the younger trees
for foreign markets, though they still imported into Spain some
of the bark of the old trees, which they esteemed to.be much
more efficacious than what was got from the young. From these
accounts Dr. Saunders concludes, that the large red bark, brought
to London in the year 1779, was of the same kind as that used
by Sydenham and Morton, as it answers to the description of
the bark used in their time, which is given by Dale, and other
writers on the Materia Medica, who were their cotemporaries.
Dr. Saunders says that it is not only stronger and more resinous,
but likewise more efficacious and certain in its effect, than the
common bark, and had cured many agues after the other had
failed. The yellow bark has, like the red bark, superior qua*
lities to the common bark ; but these, as we observed before, are
more frequently adulterated than the other*.- - *

The salt of bark, prepared by Godfrey and other chemists,
merits more attention than it haft hitherto received. Where the
bark has been in other forms rejected by the stomach, as in some
old yery gouty habits, J have found that this as a tonic has sue*
ceeded ; and where there has been utcerateU sore throat, and
glandular swellings from scrofula, I have eiperienced great
advantage by ordering it to be taken, by irst moistening the
finger and dipping it in the bark flakes, and then applying It to1
the tongue, and swallowing the saliva; and in a case of morti-
fication, where powdered bark was rejected, I had the pleasure
to find that this remained, and produced a most happy effect.

PREPARATIONS.

Ihevmqh of Cinchona Bark. (Infusnm Cinchona

Officinalis. £.)

Take of Peruvian bark, in powder, one ounce ;
— water, one pound :
Macerate for twenty-four hours, and filter.

_ i. ' ' i — ■■ ■ ■■ *■ — ■' ■■ "... ■ —

•* All tbeae barks, we are happy to inform die public, may be obulaeu
genuine, and superlatively fine, of Mr. Adcock, chemist, LeadenbaU-street,
apposite the India-house, a gentleman who has made it his study to -supply
the faculty with the very best drugs of every kind.

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HBO PERUVIAN BARK THEE. If9

• (Infusum Cinchona? sine Calore. D.)

Take of Peruvian bark, in coarse powder, one ounce ;

water, twelve ounces, by measure:

Triturate the bark with a little of the water, and add the re-
mainder during the trituration. Macerate for twenty-four hours,
and decant the pure liquor.

This is a very elegant form of exhibiting the active principles
of cinchona bark, and that in which it will sit lightest on weak
and delicate stomachs. The trituration directed by the Dublin
college will promote the solution. The residuum of the cold
infusion may be afterwards employed in making other prepara-
tions, especially the extract, for its virtues are by no means ex-
hausted. But it must never be dried and sold, or exhibited in
substance, for that would be a culpable fraud.

Decoction of Cinchona Bark. (Decoct urn Cinchonas
Officinalis. £.)

Take of cinchona bark, in powder, one ounce ;

water, one pound and a half:

Boil for ten minutes in a covered vessel, and strain the liquor
while hot.

Decoction of Peruvian Bark. (Decoctum Corticis
Peruvian!. L.)

Take of Peruvian bark, powdered, one ounce ;

distilled water, one pint and three ounces :

Boil for ten minutes in a covered vessel, and strain the liquor
while hot

Decoction of Cinchona Bark. (Decoctum Corticis
Cinchona?. D.)

Take of Peruvian bark, in coarse powder, one ounce ;

• water, one pint :

Boil for ten minutes in a vessel almost covered, and strain the
liquor, while hot, through linen.

Cinchona bark readily yields its active principles to the action
of boiling water, and in greater quantity than cold water is ca-
pable of retaining dissolved ; therefore when a saturated decoc-
tion cools it becomes turbid, and there is always a deposition of
a yellowish or reddish powder, while the supernatant liquor is
reduced to the strength of a saturated cold infusion. Decoction,

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!*>

BSD PERUVIAN BARK TREE*

therefore, presents as with an easy means of obtaining imme-
diately an active preparation of cinchona bark, and with one of
greater strength, than a cold or even a warm infusion, provided
it be drunk while tepid, and before it forms any deposition, or
if the precipitate be diffused by agitation after it is formed. As
the precipitate contains no woody fibre, or other inert matter,
it is extremely probable, that, in very small doses, it would
prove, if dried, a very powerful preparation of cinchona bark.

Formerly it was supposed that the strength of a decoction of
cinchona bark, and similar substances, was increased by con*
tinuing the boiling for a great length of time ; but this is now
known to be a mistake ; because water, at different tempera-
tures, is capable of dissolving only a determinate proportion of
its active principles ; and therefore, as soon as it is saturated,
any further decoction is unnecessary. But moreover, these
principles, when dissolved in water, are liable to be decomposed,
and become inert, by the absorption of atmospheric oxygen ;
aud this decomposition is increased by increase of temperature ;
and as boiling constantly presents new surfaces to the action of
the air, it is evidently hurtful when protracted longer than what
is just necessary to saturate the water. Ten minutes is supposed
by the colleges to be sufficient for that purpose.

Tincture of Cinchona, or Peruvian Bark. (Tinctnra
Cinchonae Officinalis. E. Tinctura Cinchonas. D. Tinctnra
Corticis Peruvian!. L.)

Take of cinchona bark, in powder, four ounces, (six
ounces, L.);

diluted alcohol, two pounds and a half, (two pints,

L. D.):
Digest for seven days, and strain through paper, E.

This tincture is certainly impregnated with the virtues of cin-
chona, but not to such a degree that it can be given in sufficient
doses to act as cinchona, without exhibiting more alcohol than
what is proper to be given as a medicine. Indeed, we are afraid
that this and other bitter and tonic tinctures, as they are called,
are with some only an apology for dram -drinking, and that ih%
most apparent effects they produce are those of a slight deg re*
of tonic power with much of the stimulus of spirit.

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RED PHttnriAN BARK TREB. 131

Compound Tincture of Peruvian Bark. (Tinctura Cin-
chonae, sive Corticis Peruvian! composite. L. D.)

Take of Peruvian bark, powdered, two ounces ;

■ exterior peel of Seville oranges, dried, one ounce and
a half (half an ounce, D.) ;

■ Virginian snake-root, bruised, three drachms;
11 saffron, one drachm ;

cochineal, powdered, two scruples ;

proof spirit, twenty ounces :

Digest for fourteen days, and strain.

This is said to be the same with the celebrated Huxham's tine*
tare of bark.

As a corroborant and stomachic it is given in doses of two
or three drachms, but when employed for the cure of inter-
mittents it must be taken to a greater extent.

Extract of Cinchona. (Extractum Cinchonas Officinalis. E.)

Take of cinchona bark, in powder, one pound ;

alcohol, four pounds :

Digest for four days, and pour off the tincture. Boil the resi-
duum in five pounds of distilled water for fifteen minutes, and
filter the decoction, boiling hot, through linen. Repeat this
decoction and filtration,, with the same quantity of distilled wa-
ter, and reduce the liquor, by evaporation, to the consistence of
thin hooey. Draw off the alcohol from the tincture, by distilla-
tion, until it also become thick ; then mix the liquors thus in-
spissated, and evaporate them in a bath of boiling water, satu-
rated with muriate of soda, to a proper consistency.

Extract of Peruvian Bark with the Resin. (Extractum
Corticis Peruviani cum Resina. L.)

Take of Peruvian bark, reduced to coarse powder, on*
pound;

■ rectified spirit of wine, four pints :

Digest it for four days, and pour off the tincture ; boil the re-
sidiiam in ten pints of distilled water to two ; then strain the
tinctnre and decoction separately, evaporating the water from
the decoctioa, and distilling off the spirit from the tincture, until
each begins to be thickened. Lastly, mix the resinous with the.
aqaeous extract, and make the mass fit for forming into pill*.

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132 RED PERUVIAN BARK TREE.

There are two'kinds of extracts made, the hard and soft
The chapter on Extracts and Resins in the London Pharma-
copoeia is concluded with the two following general directions :

1. All the extracts, during the time of inspissation, must be
gently agitated.

2. On all the softer watery extracts a small quantity of spirit
of wine mus£ be sprinkled.

The Dublin college say, —

All extracts, when they begin to get thick, ought to be
frequently stirred with a clean iron spatula ; and they may be
reduced to a proper thickness by means of a store, heated for
that purpose. They must be kept as much as possible excluded
from the action of the air ; and the softer extracts are to be
sprinkled with rectified spirit of wine.

All these extracts are supposed to contain the virtues of the
substances from which they are prepared, in a very pure and
concentrated form ; but this supposition is probably in several
instances erroneous ; and the directions for preparing them are
frequently injudicious and unoeconomical.

As the changes which opium and aloes undergo by solution
and subsequent evaporation, have never been ascertained by care-
ful and satisfactory experiments, well-selected pieces of these
substances are to be preferred to the preparations in which they
are supposed to be purified. As a further proof of the supe-
riority of good opium over all its preparations, I may also re-
mark, that the latter, however well prepared, soon become
mouldy, the former never.

Cinchona bark is a medicine of very great importance ; but,
unfortunately, the proportion of woody fibres, or inert matter,
which enter into its composition is so great, that weak stomachs
cannot bear it when given in quantity sufficient to produce any
very powerful effects. On this account, the preparation of an
extract, which may contain its active principles in a concen-
trated form, is a desirable object On this subject there is still
much room for experiment. The London college, in its direc-
tions, certainly errs in two important particulars : in the first
place, in desiring the decoction to be continued until the greatest
part of the menstruum is evaporated ; and, in the second place,
in separating, by filtration, the powder which separates from the
decoction after it has cooled. The first error probably originated
. in the old idea, that, by continuing the boiling for a grefet length

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RED PERUVIAN BARK TREE. 133

of time, more of the bark would be dissolved; but it is now un-
derstood that water is incapable of dissolving more than a certain
quantity of the active principles of cinchona ; and that, after the
water has become saturated, by continuing the decoction we
diminish the quantity of the menstruum, and therefore also di-
minish the quantity of bark dissolved. It is not easy to account .
for the second error ; for, according to the old idea, that the
powder which separated, on cooling, from a saturated decoction
of cinchona, was a resinous substance, it surely ought not to
have been rejected from what were supposed to be resinous ex-
tracts. This precipitate is now known to be caused by the
much greater solubility of its active principles in boiling than in
cold water, so that the precipitate is not different from what
remains in solution. Accordingly, I have found by experiment
that cinchona gave at least one half more extract when the de-
coction was conducted according to the directions of the Edin-
burgh college.

The real advantage of so expensive an agent as alcohol in
preparing any of these extracts, has not been demonstrated ;
and, if I be not misinformed, it is seldom employed by the apo-
thecaries in preparing even what are called the resinous extracts.

Prescriptions, with Remarks.

The best forms of prescription are :

R. 1. Take of bark, in powder, ounce 1£;
Divide into twelve portions, of which take one in some milk
every two hours in the interval of the ague fit ; when this comes
on take thirty drops of vitriolic ether and fifteen drops of lau-
danum in a decoction of liquorfce, after which frequently take
a capful of warm decoction of liquoriee until the sweating is
over, when resume again the bark as before.

R. £. Take of bark, in powder, - scruples 2,

snake-root ... scruple 1 :

Make into a powder, to be -taken every three hours in some
porter. This is given in the advanced stage of putrid fever ;
some food of the farinaceous kind (not animal) is to be taken
an hour after. Sometimes to the powder mixed with porter, a
dessert-spoonful of yeast is added, producing a wonderful and
unexpected result in cases the most forlorn.

Ifc. 3. Take of bark, in powder ----- scruples 2
— compound powder of chalk with opium, grains 10 :

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134 BED PERUVIAN BARK TRSB»

Form a powder, to be takes three times or four times a day*
This is excellent in obstinate diarrhoea, first evacuating with
rhubarb and Colombo, equal parts, three grains every four hours*
$. 4. Take of bark, in powder, - . scruples 2,

cascarilla, in powder, - grams 10 :

Form a powder, to be taken every six hours in a glass of red
wine. In low nervous fevers.
I£» 5. Take of decoction of bark,

■ lime water, equal parts, a pint:

A full wine-glass is to be taken four times a day. This is foun4
frequently to remove obstinate scabies^ commonly called violent
scorbutic eruption.
Bark is usefully joined with calcined magnesia.
Two drachms of Peruvian bark in powder, and half a drachm
of calcined magnesia, were rubbed together in a mortar, with
four ounces of distilled water, for the space of ten or fifteen
minutes ; the water being gradually added, so as to reduce the
materials in the first instance to the state of a paste. The infu-
sion, when passed through filtering paper, is found to be pot.
sessed of the following remarkable properties :
. 1st An exceedingly deep red colour, superior to the infusion
of common bark in lime water.

2d. It is more bitter and astringent to the taste even than an
infusion of red bark.

3d. It produces a very deep black colour, with a copious pre.
cipitation, upon the addition of a solution of sal martis; while
a similar addition to a common infusion of bark occasions a mo-
derate discoloration and small precipitation only.

4th. It remains beautifully transparent three or four days, and
is so strongly antiseptic, that at the end of a week, in summer,
it had scarcely made any advances towards fermentation ; while
an infusion of bark with simple water will ferment in two days.

6th. It exceeds in specific gravity the infusion of bark in lime
water, in the same, or rather in a greater proportion, than that
exceeds the simple infusion.

v la order to determine more particularly the nature of the in*
fusion prepared by the last experiment, several additions were
made to different portions of it. Being mixed in equal quantities
with water impregnated with fixed air, no other effect was pro.
dttced than that of simple dilution. A small quantity of the acid
o/ sugar, however, being added to some of the infusion, imme-

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BSD PR1TJV1AW BAJtK TltKE* 131

emUely disehasged the red colour, and earned a whitish precipi-
tation : hence it is obvious that magnesia not only increases the
activity of water upon bark, bat is in fact dissolved itself in the
Water in a very small proportion.

If calcined magnesia be added to an infusion of bark, prepared
in the common way with simple water, it occasions no change in
ks colour or properties; from which we may conclude that
when bark and magnesia are rubbed together with water, in the
manner before mentioned, the magnesia either enables the water
to extract something from the bark, which it could not hare
dome alone, or, what is more probable, by uniting chemically,
they form a compound more active and soluble in water than
pure bark.

With a view of ascertaining how far the colouring matter of
an infosion of bark with magnesia corresponds with the astrin-
gency of it, the following experiment was made :— The clear and
colourless liquor was carefully poured off from the precipitate,
which the acid of sugar had occasioned when added to the infu-
sion of bark and magnesia, and being mixed with a proper quan-
tity of the chalybeate solution changed to a green colour only;
from which circumstance it is probable that there is a close con*
nection between the colouring matter and astringency, for the
deeper the red colour of the infusion, the more complete alwayt
is the black which the chalybeate produces.

Magnesia differs remarkably from lime in its action upon bark ;
for, whether in a small or large quantity, it promotes the sole*
tton, though more completely as the proportion is greater. By
the addition of half a drachm, or a drachm at the utmost, how-
ever, to two drachms of bark and four ounces of water, the full
effects are obtained, and an additional quantity of the magnesia
would only be wasted.

I have mentioned that the magnesia, with which the experiments
hitherto related, was calcined. I may add, that it was prepared
by my friend Mr. Babtngton with the greatest care, so as to
have lost more than half its weight by calcination. It was next
an object to tty the action of common magnesia upon bark, in
order to determine how far the presence or absence of fixed air
could assist in the explanation of the effects which have been
enumerated.

One drachm of common magnesia (which is about equal to
half a drachm of the calcined) was rubbed in ,a mortar fifteen

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196 BED PERUVIAN BARK THEE.

minutes, with two drachms of bark and four ounces of pure
water, in a similar manner to the infasion with calcined magnesia;
and, being filtered, was subjected to all the trials which were
made with that infusion* Some little difference was perceived in
favour of the infusion with calcined magnesia, but the other ex*
hibited similar properties in every respeot.

If, indeed, two infusions be prepared, the one with half a
. drachm of calcined, the other with the same quantity of common
magnesia, the former will appear much* stronger, the proportion
of real magnesia being double; but when allowance is made for
the presence of fixed air in common magnesia, all the effects nay
be obtained from it nearly, if not in an equal degree, with the
calcined.

Some experiments were next instituted with magnesia and red
bark, and'eonducted according to the method fully described in
treating of the action of this earthy substance upon common
Peruvian bark, but with a very different result. It is remarka-
ble, that in the trials with red bark no effects could be perceived
either from common or calcined magnesia. The colour of an
infusion prepared in this way (t. c. by rubbing two drachms of
red bark and half a drachm of magnesia together, for fifteen
minutes, with four ounces of water added in a gradual manner)
is not deeper than an infusion in simple water. If, however,
the magnesia and red bark be kept infused a few hours after
being wel| rubbed, the liquor at length acquires a pretty deep
red colour, but is not more bitter to the taste than the plain in*
fusion of red bark in water.

This difference in the action of magnesia upon the common
and red bark, seems to point out a difference in the nature of
their constituent parts *, which the other experiments were not
capable of detecting. As all the substances which had acted
upon quilled bark appeared to exert a more powerful action on
the red, there was every reason to expect that the effects in the
present instance should be similar. I confess myself rather at a
loss for a satisfactory explanation of the difference, unless we
suppose that the soluble parts of the red bark are already in suck
a state of activity as not to admit of any improvement from
magnesia*

* Tfefe is a valuable tact in order to detect the adulteration of this bark
ay colouring Ingredient! sometimes practised.

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RED PERUVIAN BAEK TREE. 137

Many practitioners are in the habit of employing bark and
lime water as a tonic in general : — Might not the calcined mag-
nesia with bark be nsed as a substitute ?

I hare been long coftviuced, indeed, of the efficacy of the in-
fusion with lime water, and am acquainted with several prac-
titioners of experience who hare frequently recourse to it with
the best effects ; and with regard to the preparation with mag-
nesia, its sensible qualities are so highly in its favour, that Dr.
Saunders has been induced to administer it frequently, both in
the hospital and in private practice ; and although very exten-
sive trials would be necessary in order to form a decided con-
clusion, those which hare been hitherto made hare been far from
proving unfavourable to this remedy. '< I have," says Dr.
Skeete, " communicated my experiments and observations to
several practitioners of my acquaintance, and after a trial of the
infusion, both in public and private business, I have received as
satisfactory accounts from them as the nature of the subject will
permit." In short, any person who will take the trouble of pre*
paring an infusion of bark .with magnesia carefully, in the pro-
portions and under the circumstances fully explained in the
foregoing experiments, will soon be convinced, from its taste
and appearance, that it roust prove far more efficacious than the
common infusion. The rich red colour, its transparency for
three or four days, and the length of time which it remains
sound, without the addition of any of the spirituous waters, are
all qualities which should operate in obtaining it an extensive
application to the purposes of medicine. It appears to me to
be an excellent substitute for the decoctions and infusions of the
red bark, and, if this be really the case, it is no small acquisi-
tion.

Notwithstanding the remarkable strength of the infusion
with lime water, that with magnesia is preferable on several ac-
counts ; for, independent of its original superior strength, as far
as experiments could direct us, it is less disagreeable to the taste,
and keeps a much longer time without precipitation. We are
not to suppose, however, that because the preparation of bark
with lime water becomes turbid in a day or two, it loses much
of its strength. It does not appear at such a time to be in a
state of fermentation, and still retains its strong bitter taste.

But besides employing magnesia in infusion with bark, I
would propose that they should be given more frequently in aub-

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136 HKD PERUVIAN BARK TIIEE.

stance than lias hitherto been Hie practice. Some physicians
have occasionally prescribed powdered bark and magnesia, with
a few grains of the aromatic confection, b»t with no other ex*
pectation from the magnesia than that of obviating costiventss.
1 leave it to be determined by my readers, whether there are not
good grounds to expect that the bark won Id be rendered arer*
efficacious likewise by such a mode of exhibition.

I£.0. Take of decoction of bark - - - ounces 6*

compound tincture of bark, ounce 1,

bark in powder - - - drachm 1,

calcined magnesia ... drachm 1 :

To form a mixture. Two. table-spoonfuls to be given three
times a day as a very powerful tonic.

}£. 7. Take of the soft extract of bark - gnmn 15,
> purified alum in powder - grains 5,

tincture of opium - - - drops 6 :

Make into a bolus, to be taken three times a day in half -a glass
of red wine. Excellent to check diarrhoeas.

J£. 8. Take of the decoction of bark - drachms 12,

tincture of bark - - drachm I,

syrup of Tolu - . . drachm £,

diluted vitriolic acid - drops 8 :

Make into a draught, to be taken three times a day as a tonic in
cases of debility.

]£• 9. Take of bark, in powder - ounce 1,

syrup of ginger - as much as is sufficient?

To make an electuary. The size of a nutmeg to be taken, co-
vered with .moistened wafer- pa per, three or four times a day for
an ague.

J£. 10. Take of bark, in powder - drachm £,
■ ■ » syrup of orange* peel, or

syrup of ginger, as much as is sufficient r

Make a bolus, to be taken every two hoars along with a glass of
port wine, for an ague ; or at twelve at noon, and seven in the
evening, to prevent a relapse.

1^. 11. Take of soft extract of bark - - drachm £,
essential oil of cinnamon - drops 2,

tincture of opium - - - drops 4 :

Make a bolus, to be taken every six hours. The opium is added
to hinder the bark from running off by the bowels.

]£• 14. Take of bark, in powder ... ounces 2,

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BBD PERUVIAN BARK TREK. 139

Take of cammomile, in powder - ounces 1£,
■ rust of iron - - - scruples 1,

v simple syrup - - - - as much as is snf-
cient :
To form an electuary, of which the size of a nutmeg is to be
taken covered with wafer- paper four times a day. The addition
of the iron renders it both tonic and stimulant, and produces
cures in agues where the bark sometimes fails.

R. 13. Take of soft extract of bark, drachms % :
Make into twenty-four pills : take three or four three times a
day. A mild tonic.

$» 14. Take of soft extract of bark - drachm 1-fc

calcined zinc - - - grains 0,

syrup of ginger - as much as is sufficient*

Form twenty pills, of which take three three times a day. The
zinc adds greatly to the tonic powers of the bark.

1^. 15. Take of soft extract of bark - drachm ]£,

opium, in powder - - grains 10,

■ balsam of Peru - - drops (J :
Make into twenty-four pills, of which take three three times a
day. Given in cancers, and to allay irritation without weaken-
ing the system.

fy. 16. Take of soft extract of bark - drachms 2,

Colombo,

■ rust of iron, equal parts - drachm 1,

■ simple syrup - - - - as much as is
sufficient :

Make into fifty pills ; take two, and gradually increase to five,
three times a day. This is an excellent tonic,
fy. 17. Take of decoction of bark - - ounces 6,

diluted vitriolic acid - scruple 1,

honey of roses - - - ounce 1 :

Make into a gargle ; to be used, mixed with port wine, frequently
during the day, in pntrid sore throats.

1^. 18. Take of decoction of bark - - ounces 7,
— — muriated quicksilver - grains 2 :
Make into a gargle, to be taken every two hours. This is ex-
cellent in a common sore throat, before or after it has broken.
By adding to this formula two drachms of bark in powder, and
an ounce of the compound tincture of bark, I have found a de-
composition to take place, as the change of colour of the liquid

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140 RED PERUVIAN BARK TREE.

shows, owing to the muriated mercury; and in this form! hare
ordered a dessert-spoonful to be taken, drinking after it a cup
of gruel, at twelve at noon, seven in the evening, and bed-time,
and removed thereby the most obstinate cases of scabby erup-
tions, and cases of venereal affection, without hurting the con*
stitution, or producing salivation, the common pernicious effects
of the usual application of mercury.

J£. 19. Take of decoction of bark ounces 7,

tincture of myrrh - drachms 2,

purified nitre - - drachms 3 :

Make into a gargle. This is a sovereign method to disperse a
tumified gland, or common sore throat. By taking upon such
occasions a small lump of purified nitre, and putting it into the
mouth, and letting it dissolve there, and then removing it, and
applying it again in a few seconds, swallowing the saliva, I have
always for many years prevented a sore throat from forming;
and sometimes I have added to this process the taking a tea-
spoonful of brandy on sugar, letting the saliva pass on the side
where the gland of the neck has become enlarged from cold or
infection. A flannel should be put round the throat, or a
stocking.

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WOODY NIGHTSHADE.

SOLANUM DULCAMARA.

Class V. Pentandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Emewt. Gbn. Char. Corolla rotate : Anthers nearly coalesced, opening

at their apiceg by two poreg : Berry two-celled.
Spec. Chas. Stem unarmed, shrubby, winding : Superior leaves hastate

Bournes cymose.

description!

1 uis plant rises to four, five, or six feet in height. Branches
climbing. Leares long, oral, pointed, on the top hastate, or
halbert-shaped. Flowers in loose clusters, always turning against
the leaves, and avoiding the sun. Corolla composed of one
petal, wheel-shaped, divided at the border into five pointed seg*
ments, which are bent back, and of a purple colour. Promi-
nences like dots surrounding the rim of the corolla form the
nectary. The yellow anthers make a beautiful contrast to the*
corolla. These flowers become bilocular berries, which acquire

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142 VOODY NIGHTSHADE.

a bright red and inviting appearance somewhat resembling our
currant, and of a bitter sweet taste.

HISTORY.

This climbing shrub grows common in moist hedges and on
dunghills, has woody brittle stalks, and flowers in June and
July. The twigs should be gathered early in spring. The taste,
as the name of the plant expresses, is both bitter and sweet;
the bitterness being first perceived, and the sweetness after*
wards ; and when fresh they have a nauseous smell.

MEDICAL USE.

The dulcamara was formerly much esteemed as a powerful
medicine. It is in general said to increase all the secretions and
excretions, to excite the heart and arteries, and, in large doses,
to produce nausea, vomiting, and convulsions ; but its effects
seem to differ according to the nature of the soil on which it
grows, being most efficacious in warm climates, and on dry soils.
It has been recommended in cutaneous affections, in rheumatic
and cathartic swellings, in ill-conditioned ulcers, scrophula, in-
durations from milk, leucorrhoea, jaundice^and obstructed men-
struation. It has principally been employed under the form of
the watery infusion of a drachm taken daily, and gradually in-
creased to two ounces. Six ounces may be boiled in six pounds
of water to four, and four or five ounces given for a dose in as
much milk. In the form of extract, from five to ten grains may
be given for a dose.

The expressed juice of the dulcamara is useful in inflammations
and cancers. " I have seen," says Hallcr, " a cancerous ulcer
of the breast soften by the application of the juice upon the
wound, and the leaves applied over the whole breast, and cica-
trise afterwards perfectly, and without a return of the complaint,
in a lady 70 years old. The ulcer was in the commencement,
but half an inch in depth.

" Bocrhaave," adds Haller, " my illustrious master, set a
great value on this plant in pleurisy and pituitous peripneu-
mony, ordering his patients to drink an infusion of the twigs."
It must be here observed, that this remedy should be commenced
in a small "dose, for in a large one dangerous symptoms are fre-
quently excited. This caution is given by Murray, who says,
u Largior dnlcamarae usus initio et antequam ventricuius ilii

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WOODY NIGHTSHADE. 14)

assueverit, nauseam et vomitum exdtat, quia convnJskraes et de-
liria, et, notante cl. Govan, protractam paralysin linguae." —
" A large dose of the dulcamara being given before the stomach
has been accustomed to its effects, produces nausea and vomit-
ing, also convulsions and delirium, and,, as Govan observes, a
protracted paralysis of the tongue/9 The preparation should
be as follows, according to Raeou :

Take of the fresh twigs of dulcamara • drachm £,

Clearwater ----.- ounces 16:

Boil to eight ounces. The dose is three or four drachms, in
some milk, to be taken avery four hours. An emetic and ca-
thartic should be first premised. This obviates the necessity for
bleeding, and the recovery by this mode of treatment is more
rapid, and the patient is sooner able to return to his ordinary
occupation. It should be given only in robust habits.

Bergius recommends a decoction of its stalks, made by boiling
a drachm of them from a pint to half a pint of water, to be
mixed with milk, and to be taken for the cure of herpes and
land scurvy, and other cutaneous diseases.

Tragus considers this as a sovereign remedy for jaundice, even
in the last stage.

Haller mentions that it is an admirable remedy for inward
brnises, and relates a case of a man who was attacked by a
robber, and nearly beaten to death, who took a decoction of
the stalks, and at the end of two days was cured of the most
violent inward bruises, accompanied with extreme agony.

The stalks are more powerful than the leaves, and a decoc-
tion of the woody part acts as a purgative, and is recommended.
by Lobel as a cure of the dropsy.

The berries both purge and vomit, and are extremely dangerous
for children, for thirty of them being given to a dog, killed it
in less than three fcours.

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GUINEA PEPPER.

CAPSICUM ANNUUSI.

Clasi V. Pcntandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Essent. Gen. Char. Corolla rotate : Berry without juice.
Spec. Char. Stem herbaceous : Peduncle solitary.

DESCRIPTION.

This plant rises four or fire feet in height. The leav.es are
egg-shaped, ending acute. The flowers are placed on footstalks,
-which bear a single flower, usually proceeding from the axilla of
the leaf. The calyx consists of one leaf cut into five segments*
The corolla is monopetalous, rotate, divided also into five seg-
ments. To the flower succeeds a soft fruit, membranous, di-
vided into two or more cells, polished, shining, in the beginning
green, then becoming a bright orange, containing several flattish
kidney-shaped seeds.

HISTORY.

This is an annual plant, a native of South America, cultivated
in large quantities in our West India islands; and even fre-
quently in. our stoves, for the beauty of its pods.

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crtmreA pepper: H6

The pods of this species are long, pointed, and pendulous, at
first of a green colour, and when ripe of a bright orange red.
They are filled with a dry loose pulp, and contain many small,
flat, kidney-shaped seeds. The taste of capsicum is extremely
pungent and acrimonious, setting the mouth as it were on fire.

The principle on which its pungency depends,' I find, is so-
luble in water and in alcohol, is not volatile, reddens infusions
of turnsole, and is precipitated by iofusion of galls, nitrate of
mercury, muriate of mercury, nitrate of silver, sulphate of cop*
pay sulphate of «nc, 'red sulphate of iron (but the precipitate
is neither blue nor green), ammonia, carbonate 'of potass, and
alum, but not by sulphuric, nitric, or muriatic acid, or silicized
potass.

Cayenne pepper is an indiscriminate mixture of the powder of
the dried pods of many species of capsicum, but especially of the
capsicum frutescens or bird pepper, which is the hottest of all.
Cayenne pepper, as it comes to us in powder from the West
Indies, changes infusion of turnsole to a beautiful green, pro-
bably owing to the muriate of soda, which is always added to
it, and to red oxide of lead, with which it is said to be mixed.

MEDICAL USE.

These peppers have been chiefly used as a condiment. They
prevent flatulence from vegetable Tood, and have a warm and
kindly effect in the stomach, possessing all the virtues of the
oriental spices, without, according to Dr. Wright, producing
those complaints of the head which the latter are apt to occa-
sion. An abuse of them, however, is supposed to occasion
visceral obstructions, especially of the lirer. In the practice
of medicine they constitute one of the simplest and strongest sti-
mulants which can be introduced into the stomach, their action
not being followed by any narcotic effects. Dr. Wright says
that in dropsical and other complaints, where chalybeates are
indicated, a minute portion of powdered capsicum forms an ex-
cellent addition ; and he recommends its use in lethargic affec-
tions. It has also been successfully employed as a gargle in
cynaoche maligna, when it has resisted the use of cinchona,
wine, and the other remedies commonly employed. In tropical
fevers, coma and delirium are common attendants ; and in such
cases cataplasms of capsicum have a speedy and happy effect.
The} redden the parts, but seldom blister, unless when kept on

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J4$ fffflHBA wm»

too long. Im ophthalmia from relatatioa, the dialed jekrfof
tjapsicum is a sorereigu remedy. Dr. Adair gate lix or eight
jpaip* for a <jL*«> made into pill*, or prepared a tincture, by
4fg**#9g todf W ounce of pepper in. a pound of alcohol, tha
dps* of which wps one or two drachms diluted with water. Afi
Ho aromtfo of die most acrid and stimulant kind, it certainly
jpay be found efficacious in some paralytic sod gouty cases, or
to promote excitement where the bodily organs are languid and
torpid. Berlins gare the seeds of capsicum, with great success,
in inyeterate intermittent^ The pungeftcy of the taste in thf
poutb is rumored by rinsing the mouth with riaegar and water.

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H
SMALLER CENTAURY.

CHIRON I A CENTAURIUM.
GENTIANA CENTAURIUM.

Class V. Pentandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Emeu t. Qtm . Char. Corolla rotate : Pfetf / declined : Stamina sitting npaa

the tube of the corolla : Ant her » at length, spiral : Pericarp two-celled.
Srsr. CaAE. Corolla faniiel-sbaped, five-cleft: Stem dichotomons : Pistil

simple.

DESCRIPTION.

It rises from six to tea inches ia height The stalk is erect
The leaves are opposite, sessile, oblong, blunt Flowers ter-
minal, in bunches, of a pink or red colour. The calyx is cut
into five erect small teeth. The corolla is funnel-shaped, the
tube is cylindrical, and the border is difided into five egg-shaped
segments.

HISTORY.
This plant is annual, and grows wild in many parts of En-
gland on barren pastures. It flowers between the months of
Jane and August

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148 SMALLER CEirt Atm*.

Neumann got from 480 parts 210 alcoholic, and 140 watery
extract ; and in?ersely, 320 watery, and 40 alcoholic

After the example of Dr. Woodville, I hare separated this
plant from the gentian tribe and placed it as a chironia.

MEDICAL USES.

Centaury is justly esteemed as one of the most efficacious
bitters indigenous to this island. It is often substituted for gen-
tian, which it much resembles. It is milder than the worm*
wood, and holy thistle. It was formerly much used as a sto-
machic bitter both in substance and infusion, and for the care
of intermittent ferers. It is recommended for worms, and, like
chamomile, is made into tea for assisting the operation of eme-
tics. It answers the purpose of any of the bitters, and is often
taken to create an appetite ; bat the long continued use of any
bitter impairs the coats of the stomach, and produces an incura-
ble debility of that organ*

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BUCKTHORN.

RHAMNUS CATHARTICUS.
SPINA CERVINA. P. L.

Class V. Pentandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Emevt. Gsar. Char* Calyx tabular: Scales arming the stamioa: Corolla

none : a Berry,
Srxc. Char. Spinet terminal: Calyx four-deft, dioecious : Leaves ovate :

Stem erect. _

DESCRIPTION.
This is a prickly bash, or low tree, common in hedges ; with
oral, pointed, sawed leaves. The flowers are male and female
■pon different plants, small, and in clusters upon simple pedun-
cles. The calyx is funnel-shaped, divided into four spreading
segments. The stamina are usually four only. It produces a
round black berry con taming four seeds.

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150 BTTCKTHORlf.

HISTORY.

This tree, or bush, is common in hedges : it flowers in May
and June, and ripens its fruit in September or the beginning of
October. In our markets, the fruit of some other trees, as the
blackberry.bearing alder, and the dogberry tree, bare of lata
been frequently mixed with, or substituted for, those of buck*
thorn. This abuse may be discovered by opening the berries ;
those of buckthorn hate almost always four seeds, the berries
of the alder two, aud those of the dogberry only one. Buck-
thorn berries, braised on white paper, stain it of a green colour,
which the others do not Those who sell the juice to the apo-
thecaries are said to mix it with a large proportion of water*

MEDICAL USES.
Buckthorn berries have a faint disagreeable smell, and a nau-
seous bitter taste. They hare long been in considerable esteem as
cathartics ; and celebrated in dropsies, rheumatisms, and even in
the gout ; though in these cases they have no advantage over other
purgatives, but arc more offensive, and operate more severely,
than many which the shops are furnished with. They generally
occasion gripes, sickness, dry the mouth and throat, and leave
a thirst of long duration. The dose is about twenty of the fresh
berries in substance, and twice or thrice this number in decoc-
tion ; an ounce of the expressed juice, or a drachm of the dried
berries.

PREPARATIONS.

.The only officinal preparation ordered by the colleges is a.
syrup, simple as directed by the Edinburgh college, and pro-
perly corrected by ginger and pimento by the London.

Srtur of BucatHott*. (Syrapns Rhaemi Catharfid. B.)

Take of the juice of ripe buckthorn berries, depurated, tw»

parts;
■ ■ double refined sugar, one part :

Boil them so as to form atyrnp.

Strup of Buckthorn. (Syrupus Spine Cervinae. L.)
. Take of the fresh juice of ripe buckthorn berries, one gallon;

ginger, bruised, one ounco ;

pimento, powdered, one ounce and a half;

double refined sugar, seven pounds :

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WCKTHOftN. |51

Sat aside the joke for three days, that the feces may subside;
and then strain it Macerate the ginger and pimento in a pint
of the strained juke for four hours, and filter. Boil away the
test of the juice to three pinto; then add that part of the juice
in which the ginger and pimento hare been macerated, and form
a syrup of it with die sugar.

Both these preparations* in doses of three or four spoonfuls,
operate as brisk cathartic*. The principal inconveniencies at-
tending them are their befeg very unpleasant, and their occa-
sioning a thirst and dryness of the mouth and fauces, and some*
times violent gripings ; thee* effects may be prevented by drink-
ing liberally of water*grud, or other warm liquids, during tha
operation. "

It b seldom employed alone, but to give power to other pur-
gatives, except in dropsies.

The juice dried produces for the painter their sap great, a very
fine dark green, but not very durable.

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RED CURRANT.

RIBES RUBRUM.

Clast V. Pentanriria. Order I. Monogynia.
Embht. Geh . Char. Petals five : Stamina inserted into the calyx : Stytee

two-cleft : Berry many-seeded beneath.
Spec. Char. Stem unarmed : Aocerne* smooth, pendulous : Flower* tone*

what flat.

DESCRIPTION.

1 his bushy shrub grows four or fire feet in .height Leares
are serrated, divided into five or seven lobes, of a pale green,
standing upon hairy long footstalks. The calyx consists of a
single leaf divided into five reflexed segments, of a yellowish
green colour. The corolla is composed of five small upright
petals, of a yellowish colour, inserted into the calyx* The fruit
is a round shining red berry (or white) containing many seeds.

HISTORY.

This shrub grows wild in England, and is very generally cul-
tivated for the sake of its pleasant subacid fruit. The juice of
die fruit contains saccharine matter, malic and citric acids, and
a substance scarcely soluble in cold water, very soluble in hot
water, and coagulating into the form of a jelly as it cools. By

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BAD CUBftANTi 15J

boiling currant-juice with a sufficient quantity of sugar to sJtedtb
the add watery parts, the whole farms, on cooling, an uniform;
jelly, which is often used as an acid demulcent in sore thnoatsf,
and, dissolved in water, forms a pleasant cooling drink in fe?erish
complaints. The juice, fermented with a proper quantity of
s*§ar, affords a very palatable wine, much improyed by keep*
hag, ef en for twenty years, when it possesses the taste and pro-*
perties of champaigne. It is made thus :—

PREPARATIONS.
Currant Wine.

Take four gallons of cold water to four of bruised currants*
picked carefully from their stalks ; let these stand together for
four days, then strain them off, and mix three pounds and a half
of brown sugar, or white sugar, which is greatly to be preferred,
to each gallon of diluted currant-juice ; stir it well, then put U
into a cask, apd add also a piece of toasted bread spread oyer
with yeast, which will ferment it ; after this is oyer bung it up
yery tight, and it will be ready for bottling off in six months,
and for domestic use after six months keeping in the bottle.

The white currant alone produces the best wine, when it is
clear like champaigne, and sparkles as much $ but it is oftener
made of red currants, when it has the appearance of mountain
grape wine, or the two are mixed together. Respecting the
properties of these wines, I have often ordered the old white
currant wine in putrid fevers and in calculous affections, and it
exceeded all expectation. There can be no doubt but these home-
made wines would be an excellent substitute for the more expen-
sive foreign, provided they were kept a sufficient length of time,
and properly fermented : but home-made wine, when new and
ill madV, is very apt to ferment upon the stomach, and thus
disorder the whole frame.— But more upon the subject of these /
wines in our next article.

If equal weights of picked currants and pure sugar are put
over the fire, the liquor that separates spontaneously is a most
agreeable jelly. The regular mode of preparing currant jelly
is as follows :— -

Currant Jelly.

Take some ripe red currants, with one third of white ; pick,
and put them into a preserving-pan over a good fire, to dissolve :
run their liquor through a flannel bag, and to a pint of juice

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151 «bd ctTfitaKT*

add fourteen ounces of sifted sugar; Ml quick, skfan, and it*
duoe to a good thickness, which may be knowa by patting i
little into a saucer and setting H in cold water.

Jelly is contained in the juices of several add fruits, partial*
kurly currants. It is deposited from them in the form *V a soft
tremulous mass, almost colourless, and agreeable to the taato.
It is scarcely soluble in cold water, but Tory soluble in M
water; and when the solution coots, it again assumes a gefaM
tinous state. With sugar its combination is well known. By
long boiling it loses this property of congealing. When dried,
it becomes transparent, hard, and brittle, resembling gum. It
combines with the alkalies, and is converted by the nitric acid
info otallc acid.

In the dry state of the fauces and tongue it is excellent, and
to give children after medicine, or to mix some powders with it,
especially calomel.

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BLACK CURRANT.

HIBES NIGRUM.

ClastV. Pentandrla. Order I. Moflogynia*
EnKirr. Gmr. Char. Ptiak five * Stamens inserted into the calyx: Styfe

tvcHclcft : Berry mao y-ieeded beneath.
Spec. Char. Stem unarmed; Raceme* hairy : FUwert oblong.

DESCRIPTION.

This throb rises from fire to six feet in height The leares art
commonly divided into three lobes, irregularly serrated. On the
under side are small glands, which secrete a peculiarly smelling
fluid. The flowers are on pendant bunches, upon slender foot-
atalks, placed alternate on the raceme* The calyx is cut into
fite segments. The corolla consists of five roundish petals. The
berries are black.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

It is a wholesome fruit, and a gentle aperient The leaf

applied to a gouty limb is said greatly to assuage pain and in*

flammation of the part. The inner bark of this, and also of the

red currant and gooseberry, made into a decoction, is a popular

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156 ALACK CtflftANt.

remedy in jaundice, and* with some medical men, for dropsjr.
Bat the chief use is from the following

PREPARATIONS.
Black Currant Wine.

The currants should be gathered on a dry day, when quite
ripe; strip them, put them into a large pan, bruise them with
a wooden pestle, and let them stand twenty-four hours to fer-
ment: then rub it through a hair sieve, but do not let the hand
touch the liquor. To every gallon of this liquor stir in two
pounds and a half of white sugar, and put it into a vessel. To
every six gallons add one quart of brandy, and let it stand six
weeks. If fine, bottle it ; if not, draw it oil* clear into another
Yessel, or large bottles ; and, in a fortnight, bottle it up for use.

Another Way.— Take four gallons of currants, not too ripe,
strip them into an earthen stein with a cover to it ; then take
two gallons and a half of water, and five pounds and a half of
sugar ; boil the sugar and water together, and well skim it ; then
potir it boiling on the currants, and let it stand forty-eight hours;
afterwards strain it through a flannel bag into the vessel again,
and let it stand a fortnight to settle : then bottle it off*

Black Currant Jelly.

This is made as the red, which see (p. 153).

There is nothing which relieves sore throats more than this
jelly, it deterges, to use the medical expression, and abates
thirst and fever. Barley water is frequently acidulated with
it, which makes a most refreshing drink in all fevers. It is
particularly serviceable in the low stages of typhus fevers.

Syrup of Black Currants. (Syrupus Ribis Nigri.)

Take of the juice of black currants, strained, two pints; .

; — ; — double re6ned sugar, fifty ounces :

Dissolve the sugar, and boil to make a syrup.

' A tea-spoonful of this is given to children in the thrush.

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COMMON VINE.

VITIS VINIFERA,

Class V. Pentandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Ewdtt. Cen. Char. Petals adhering at their apices, withered: Seed

five-seeded, above.
Spec, Csa*. Leaves lobate, sinuate, naked.

DESCRIPTION.
The Tine rises to a considerable height, and climbs by means of
^tendrils. The leaves are deeply serrated, .commonly divided into
three lobes, having long footstalks. The calyx is cat into five
segments. The petals are five, whitish, and soon drop. The
fruit is a large round berry of one cell, and has Ave hard seeds
of an irregular form.

HISTORY.

1. The hardy vines, which ripen in August, are, the black July
grape; black sweet- water white ditto; black Corinth, or cur-
rant.

2. In September, the early white muscadine ; white musca.
dive royal, or chasselas blanc; white le cour grape, or musk
chasselas ; red chasselas; red ditto; black Burgundy; black
Ffontignac; black cluster, hayiog hoary whitish leaves, and
short compact clusters*

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156 COMMON VINR.

3. Ripening in October, rod Qtafcrirgn, blade ditto. The
grapes of both large*

Tender vines, seldom ripening unless the autumn prove* very
warm and mild ; and are therefore often planted against hot*
walls, hot-houses, and forcing-frames.

1. Ripening in September, red Frontiniac; grisly ditto; white
ditto; white muscat of Alexandria ; red ditto.

2. Ripening in October, St. Peter's; Tokay; white Syrian
exceeding large cluster); red raisin; white ditto; claret*

The hot- ho use ripens some of the early sorts in May and
June, others in July and August.

The vine, besides in England, grows in temperate situations in
many parts of the world, and is cultivated very generally for the
sake of its agreeable subacid fruit. Before they are ripe, grapes
are extremely harsh and acid, and by expression furnish a liquor
which is called verjuice. It contains malic acid, super-tartrate
of potass, and extractirej and may be made to furnish wine by
the addition of sugar, , /

Raisins. — As the grape advances to maturity, the quantity of
sugar in it increases, while that of maljp acid diminishes: by
this means not only the water they contained is dissipated, but
die quantity of acid seems to be diminished. They become more
saccharine, mucilaginous, and laxative than tke recent grape, bat
are less cooling.

PREPARATIONS.

Raiscn Wivx*

To one gallon of water put six gallons of sun raisins ; let it
stand In a tub twelve days, stir frequently, press the raisins as
dry as possible, and put the liquor into a cask of the proper
size : to ten gallons pat a quart of brandy. If you wish t6
make* it very rich, you may put seven pounds of raisins to a
gallon, and dissolve five pounds of sugar-candy in the liquor,
before you put it into the barrel ; when made thus it mnst stand
longer, and is scarcely inferior to any foreign wine.

tew*. (Vinum album 0i*pannm. E. Vinnm* J>.)

Wine is the juice of the grape altered by fermentation. The
numerous varieties of wine depend principally on the proportion
of sugar contained in the must, and the manner of its fermenta-
tion. When the proportion of sugar is sufficient, and the f**»

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00*1(0* VINE, 1SB

meafntioe complete, the wine is perfect aad generous t if the
fnentity of sugar be too large, part of k remains undecomposed\
as the fermentation is languid, and the wine is sweet and luscious;
if , on the contrary, it be too small, the wine is thin and weakf
and if it be bottled before the fermentation be completed) it will
proceed slowly in the bottle, and, on drawing the cork, the
wine will sparUe in the glass, as, for einmpla, Chasapaagna
Whan the most is separated from the husk of the grape before it
is fermented, the wine has little or no colour: these are oallei
white wines, if, oa the contrary, the husks are allowed to
main in the asust while the fermentation is going on, the alt
eohoi dissolves the colouring matter of the husks, and the wine
is coloured ; sueh are called red wines* Besides, in these priiw
cipal cjrcumstanoes wines vary much in flavour. The red wines
most commonly drunk in this etmntry ase Port, which is strong
and apstere, containing mneh iaunjb, and claret, which is thin*
ner and higher flavoured* Our white wines are all strong, Ma*
deira, Sherry, Lisbon, Malaga, and Hock. Of these Hock is
the aosi acidulous, and Malaga the sweetest

MEDICAL USE.

Wine, taken in moderate quantities, acts as a beneficial stir
mnlus to the whole system. It promotes digestion, increases
the action of the heart and arteries, raises the heat of the body,
and exhilarates the spirits. Taken to excess, it produces in*
ebriety, which is often succeeded by head-ach, stupor, nausea,
and diarrhoea, which last for several days. Habitual excess in
wine debilitates the stomach, produces inflammation of the lirer,
weakens the nervous system, and gives rise to dropsy, gout,
apoplexy, and cutaneous affections.

One cannot but lament that a remedy so extremely useful
should be so difficult to procure genuine, for it is a known fact that
dear tilings are always sophisticated* and I would here remark,
that ProTidence has with consummate wisdom diversified climates,
and hence productions, to create a spirit of intercourse, barter,
or trade ; and that when any government, through a narrow,
contracted, sneaking jealousy, prohibits by duties the purchase
of such a necessary as wine, of a neighbour, that this act is a sin
against the omnipotent Creator, and productive to mankind of
the highest calamity, and all good men should endeavour to open
the eyes of such rulers, and make them sensible of both the wicked-

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160 COMMON VINE)

Bess and impolicy of such envious jealousy. Peace and godi
will should prevail throughout the world, and we shall ew»
find, that if our neighbours the French be rich, they would be
less inclined to do us an injury and go to war than when poor ;
and it is worthy of remark, that the French once thought them-
selves so wretched in their own poor soil, that they invaded
Italy, and, bringing thence some vines, the whole country lias
become a vineyard, and more delicious wine is produced in
France alone than in all the world beside.

In Italy an useful oil is drawn from the grape stones* In order
to separate the seeds from the husks and refuse matter, the mash
is put into a bucket with some water and worked about with the
bands until the seeds, from their superior weight, have fallen to
the bottom of the vessel. They are then to be removed and dried
in the sun, or by any other way, as soon as possible : when a
sufficient quantity is collected, the whole is to be ground in the
same kind of mill that is used for hemp- and cole-seed : being
then cold drawn, a fine oil is procured, which is. scarcely di-
stinguishable from common olive oil. The refuse matter, being
scalded in a little hot water, yields a fresh portion of oil, though
of an inferior quality, which burns excellently well in a lamp,
giving out no unpleasant odour, and very little smoke. I recollect
somewhere to have read of a person who took the loppings or
prunings of the vine and made excellent vinegar from the same,
and even wine with the aid of sugar.

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COMMON LUNGWORT.

PULMONARIA OFFICINALIS.

Clou V. Pentandria. Order I. Monogynia.

Emnrr. Gnr. Char. Corolla funnel-shaped, pervious in the throat :

prismatic fire-angled.
Spec. Cbj*; Leaves radical, ovate-cordate, hairy.

Cal#*

DESCRIPTION.

This plant rises to a foot in height Stem is erect, rough.
Leaves oblong, pointed, rough, with white spots on the upper
surface. The flowers are reddish and purple. The calyx con.
sists of one leaf, divided on the top into five points. The corolla
is cot in the margin into five obtuse segments. The seeds are
four, lodged in the bosom of the permanent calyx.

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](Jt COMMON MWGWOET.

HtfTOEY,
It is a plant common enough in hedges, and in shady and

rather moist situations* It flowers in May* From its beauty
it has obtained a pl*c* in our gardens.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

It is a popular remedy, as Dr. Woodville observes, probably
from its spotted foliage, resembling in this the freckled appear*
anee of the lungs. It is not admitted into our Pharmacopoeias,
and might hare been rejected by me, unless the illustrious Haller
had said that its viscous juice, possessing some degree of acidity,
had been found of use to take off a dryness of the throat, and
In a case of cough, accompanied with spitting of blood*

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COMMON GROMWELL.

LITHOSPERMUM OFFICINALE.

Class V. Pentandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Esmemy. G«*. Char. Corolla faanel-aiiape, neck perforate, naked : Calyx

ire- parted,
grxc Caaa, Corolla scarcely exceeding the calyx: Leaves lanceolate t

Seeds polished.

DESCRIPTION.

The stem is erect, and beset with short bristly hairs. The
lea?es are alternate, sessile, pointed, hairy beneath, and studded
with cartilaginous tubercles above. The flowers are of a pale
yellow colour. The calyx is divided into fi?e segments. The
corolla is monopetalous, funnel-shaped, mouth naked, its border
is cat into five blunt teeth. The seeds arc four, egg-shaped,,
shining and extremely hard.

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164 . COMMON GHpMWBLL.

' HISTORY.

It grows in England on a dry gravelly soil. Its flowers ap?
pear in May and June. The seeds hare the most exquisite
polish, and are of a stony hardness and appearance. Hence
Pliny, speaking of these, says, " Nee quicquam inter herbas ma-
jore quidem miraculo aspexi. Tantus est decor, velut *urificnm
arte alterhis inter folia candicantibus margaritis : tarn exquisita
difficult** lapidis ex herba nascentis."

MEDICAL TJSE.

As the lungwort gained its reputation and trial from the re-
semblance to the lungs, so superstition thought that Providence
pointed out this as a remedy against the stone, the seeds being
made to indicate such virtue, being stones themselves, Haller
says that these effervesce with an acid. The fact is, that the
internal part is of the nature of almonds, with more oil in it,
and a decoction of the seed of the lithospermum is lubricating,
and hence beneficial in the stone and strangury. Murray says
of this remedy, « Lotum movere hisce quidem credo, et ix%
stranguria efficere aliquid posse, qunm ob nudeum emulsive
naturse est." The root is used by ladies as paint.

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OFFICINAL feUGLOSS*

ALkANET.

ANCHUSA OFFICINALIS;

Goes V* Pentandria. Order I. Monogynia.

turner. Gsft. Chae. Corolla fannel-fthaped, the throat cloted by promi-
nences: Seed hollowed at the bate. .

Spec. Chak. Leaves lanceolate, rough : Spikes both lateral and terminal
imbricated: Calgx foe-parted.

DESCRIPTION*

The plant rises about two feet Leaves alternate, narrow*
lanceolate, rough, hairy. Flowers purple. Calyx rough, cut
into five acute segments. Corolla funnel-shaped. Limb cut into
fi?e obtuse segments. Seeds four.

HISTORY*
This plant is seldom found wild in England, but is common
on the continent, and is cultir ated fit our gardens. It arranges
under the natural order Asperifoliae.

MEDICAL USE.
Bgcrnaare, speaking ot this plant, says : " Itt tussi inrefo

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166 OFFICINAL BUG LOSS, OR ALKANET.

rata et omnibus morbis pulmouum prodest, folia et radices io
decoctis pectoralibus adhibentur, succus ejus cum magno sue*
cessu in plcuritide datur." — " A decoction of the leaves and root
of the alkanct is advantageous in inveterate coughs, and all dis-
orders of the chest. It is both demulcent and pectoral, and the
expressed juice is given with great success in pleurisy/* Chomel
relates, that boiled with milk it is efficacious in dysentery.
Being of a glutinous nature, it is probable that it may be of some
use, although of no great medical virtue. What surprises most
is the vaunted accounts of its efficacy in the cure of melancholia
and other hypochondriacal diseases. But then it must be steeped
in strong ale and wine :— " Quo vino inditum animi voluptatis
augere, hilaritatemque offer re crcditur." — Dios. 1. if. c. 128.
Hence it h reckoned as one of the four grand cordial flowers.
But as Dr. Woodvillc justly observes, the efficacy of warm water
as a diluent, and of wine as a true cordial, cannot be denied,
and this will explain to^uitfce varied accounts of certain plants
acting according to the vehicle employed.

• .o ..

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COMMON BtfGLOSS,

BORAGO OFFICINALIS. ,

CtotV. Pentosrfrla* OriUr I. Moadgyttu
,G*». Csusu CW*lb rattle j fife Ifc^eUseiWfcfcfafti
BtacvCaaa. C«tyrp*teati«Jlta«J

DESCRIPTION.

This plant rues to two feet, stalk much branched. Leant
undulate, hairy, ciKate, raginant Flowers conspicuous, bine,
pendent. Calyx cut into fire segments, permanent. Corolla
monopetalous, wheel-shaped. Border cut into ire large spread*
log pointed segments. The mouth closed with fire ptpmiaences^
blunt, notched at the end. The calyx serves the office of cap*
sole, and contains the seeds; which are four, of an irregular
shape.

HISTORY.

It is a perennial plant, and although Hot indigenous to this
climate, has stolen out of the gardens* and is to be found i*
waste grounds and on old walls, usually near the residence of
man. Bolduc relates, that a decoction of borage leaves, erapo*
rated to the consistence of a syrup, and set by for * few days,
yielded saline crystals, partly in form of fat needles, and partly

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168 COMMON BUGL08S.

cubical ; that the needled crystals were found to be perfect nitre,
and the cubical sea salt : that by passing the decoction through
quicklime before the inspissation, both salts were obtained in
greater purity and larger quantity s that the substance of the
leaves remaining after the boiling being dried and burnt, and
the ashes elixated with water, the lye, properly evaporated and
set to shoot, yielded first a vitriolated tartar, and afterwards
sea salt ; the liquor after the crystallization also proved alkaline.
Common observation also shows that this plant, if dry, and
put upon the fire, emits a sort of coruscations, with a slight de-
tonation in the burning, which points out the nitre it contains.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.
The borage is esteemed as one of the four grand cardiac plants*
But then it must be mixed with wine.

Vintim potatum quo sit macerata baglosta,
M<crorem cerebri dicunt auferre peritL

i " Sohtl. Sfilern. c. xxi.

But its real use is in the composition pf a ptisan to aid the
operation of Nattfrc, or rather as substituting what is bland and
unirritating for the usual stimnlna of food to allay action. Hence
it is found of «gftrv*ce in colds, and all inflammatory affections,
as a 4$ntim& JlMf* la this way it may answer the high enco-
mium on it given by Boerhaave :— ■* Hec planta contra triletn
exasperatam vobis commendabay mucous ex press us saporem spu-
man tern refert sine ulla acjimouia, nam e$t subdulcis, saponaceus,
et prOfSunpno solamine in morbis adhibetur, si cum sero lactis
?cl syrup'o citrt gratior rddHltus diluatur, turn in omni morbo
inrtamraato, "podagra, phreniticfe, paraph rcni tide, ct peripneu.
monia convenit." According to Dr. Woodville and others, the
diluent does tire business, and the use of such kind of herbs is
only to cloak the aqueous fluid in the appearance of a medicine.
* tender the idea that it is Cooling, it is put iuto a mixture of
elder, water, and lemon -juice, with some wine added, when if
has the emphatic appellation of a cool tankard, and this is drunk
in the middle of summer as a most cooling refreshing drink.
x Malonin remarks, that the juice of the leaves, which is not
green Kkc that of most o&er herbs, but of a brown colour,
added1 to the bitter mixtures of the juices of cresses, chervil, &c
takes off their un pleasantness.

Dt. Wintering remarks, that the young and tender leaves are
^oodi*«*lWsf*«r as a pot-herb. «

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JSJt

VOMIC NUT,

POISON NUT.

STRYCHNOS NUX VOMICA.

OuiV. Fentandria* Order I. Moaogynife ..
Ement. Gen. Char. Corolla fite-cleft: Berry one-celled, nith a tigneooi

bark.
8*Et. Cns*. Leases dvate : Sfem unarmed*

DESCRIPTION. •,.'..

It is a Urge tree* The young branches have a gouty appear*
aace. The leaves are in pairs, upon short footstalks, orate?
with three or fire ribs. The flowers are terminal in a fascicnlati
kind of umbel. Calyx tubular, five-toothed. Corolla mend*
petalous, tube cyliudric, the border cut into fire gegmeois.

HISTORY.
It is a native of the East Indies, and was introduced into Engl
land in 1770 by Dr. Russell The nut is flat, round, abont kk
inch broad, and near a quarter of an inch thick, with a promi-
nence of a gray colour, covered externally with woolly, and in*
ternally with hard and tough like horn, and remarkably bitten

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170 VOMlC HUT, OR *OUOH NUT*

VIRTUES.

It hat been given and recommended by foreign physicians at
a vermifuge, in rheumatism, goaty canine madness, dysentery,
and mania ; bat such powerful remedies require a rery cautions

hand, and more facts in their favour, before we would recom-
mend their application.

The nux vomica is chiefly employed for the destruction of
vermin. It is quickly fatal to dogs^ hares, foxes, wolves, rab-
bits : and Lourciro relates, that a horse died in four hours after
taking a drachm of the seed. From examination after death, it
appears that it docs not act upon the stomach or bowels, but
immediately on the nerves by its narcotic power. A scruple
will destroy a large dog, and four grains has killed a cat. In
a small quantity it is fatal to rats, which are readily destroyed
by the following method : —

In or near the place frequented by rats, place on a slate or
tile one or two table-spoonfuls of dry oatmeal. Lay it thin, and
press it flat, that it may be easily ascertained what b taken
away. The rats, if iiot interrupted, will come regularly there to
feed; supply them with fresh oatmeal for two or three days; and
then, well mixing, in about six table-spoonfuls of dry oatmeal,
three drops of oil of aniseeds, feed them with it for two or three
days more. Afterward, for one day, give them half the quan-
tity of this scented oatmeal which they have before eaten ; and,
next day, the following mixture : To four ounces of dry oatmeal,
scented with six drops of oH of aniseeds, add half an ounce of
the poison-nut powder, pounded very fine in a mortar, and sifted
through fine muslin. Mix this with the scented oatmeal ; lay it
on the tile or slate, let the rats eat it, without interruption, for
twenty-four hours. A few hours after eating any of it, they
wDt be seen running about, as if drunk or paralytic ; but they
My, at last, retire to their haunts, and die. When they
during die twenty-four heurs, eaten only a small portion,
Inve the remainder of the mixture twenty-four hours longer ;
after which it 'will be best f* burn what is left, a fresh mixture
being prepared at to trifling an expense when wanted.

The doors of the place wtere (fan mixture b exposed to the
r^for sboal4-»be JUjM shot, to prevent them frem being disturbed,
f$$ tt> Ifceep ihildrjn ;au& domestic animals from getting at it.
-iraoiq r. >""' *•'•»» •• • • . * • . . - . . . «j

.n. L'.'t

i.'f.

«*»i i "I : [. v*i ' cz .r :• '- 'iH

,v.:!u

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CX>MMON WINTER CHERRY.

PHVSALIS AWtEKENGL

Class V. Pentandria. Order I. Monogynla.
Eitcirr. Gew. Char. Corolla rotate : Stamina conniving : Berry Within the

eafy*> Inflated, bftocular.
$psr. Char. Leavts hi pain, entire, acute ? Stem herbaceous, beneath

DESCRIPTION.

Xmz Foot ol this plant is perennial, bat it dins* down entry
ye*f* The leaves are alternate, sometimes two together,, of aa,
irregular ahane^ undalated, pointed, veined. Calyx permanent*
becoming a large, orbicular, pentangular, inflated membrane*
encompassing the berry, which is two-celled, and contains nu-
merous flat kidney-shaped seeds.

HISTORY.

It is a native of the south of Europe, common in our gardens,
and has been cultivated ever since the time of Gerarde, in 1597.
It flowers from July till September, and ripens its fruit in Oc-
tober.

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1?2 COMMON WINTER fctfERlfcf.

MEDICAL USES.

This is also one of the plants discarded from the Pharmacol
jpoeias; and we might be tempted to follow the routine of fa*
shion, unless the great Boerhaave had said " it was good in fe*
▼era, and disorders of the kidneys."

u Baccae habent succum vinosum perictrantissimum, simileiri
succum citri vel vini ; hinc in fob rib us ardentibus laudator, hie
snccuB quoque est diureticus, ergo in niorbis renum cominenda*
tar, et quidem optimus est, quia nil in nostro cor pore nisi sola*
urioa, quae in putredincm alcalinam vcrgit, hinc alcalta diuretica
vobis semper sint suspect a. Baccae exsiccatae, in pollitfem cou-
tritae et vino in fit sac est summum diuretic urn, quod etiam al«
turn mo vet, sic etiam contra calculum laudatur, valet contr*
omnes morbos ardent es vi sua refrigerante, scmina exsiccata et
contrita cum saccharo ad unciain dimidiam sunt optima in onu
nibus renum morbis, instar thee et cone adhibita renes purgunt,
baccae valeut contra sangutnem congrnmatam, ictentmr strangu-
nam, urinae remoram arthritidem et hydropem ; ftimus seminis
ore exceptus mire prolicit t^trmimlos ex derttis cavo ; ex baeds
fiunt trochisci optimi."

The dose is six to twelve berries, or an ounce of their ex-
pressed juice* There is no danger that can be derived from a
larger number, as in Spain and Switzerland they frequently sup-
ply the place of other edible fruit

Ray, our countryman, whose medical knowledge, was 4enu
pared with superstition, mentiorff/that a gouty person prevented
the returns of this disorder by eating eight of these cherries at
each change of the moon.

' It is some knowledge, however, to know, that should dhi&
dren, or any other person, foolishly be invited to taste of this
ftrnit, they will not surely die; for if not their medical virtues,
their innoceney has been abundantly proved.

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;

MANDRAKE.

ATROPA MANDRAGORA.

CUtuV. Pentandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Ettnrr. Gnr. Char. Corolla compannlate : Stamina dis^pt: Berry glo*

balar, two-celled,
Sfsc. Crab. No item : Scope one*nowered.

DESCRIPTION,

A small plant Leares radical, orate, veined, wared; at irtt
erect, afterwards resting on the ground* Flowers large, wUtfih.
Calyx five-cleft, segments pointed. Corolla dee^y cnt into fire
Berry large* Root fusiform.

IflSTORY.

Natif e of the southern parts of Europe, flowers in March and
ApriL Coltifated with ns, according to Turner, in 15QZ.

MEDICAL USE.

This is one of the plants of which such strange things are re-
ported. Its root frequently dividing into two below, and shoot-
ing out fusiform radicles, on each side, gave a resemblance to a
pan, and being aided by art, this likeness was rendered so com.

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174 MAMDBAES*

plete as to deceive die multitude by sack an extraordinary Tege-
table production. The possessor of such wonders reported, that
it waq^leath to dig up the root; that screams were heard when
these became wounded ; and that they were to be drawn out by
means of a dog, which perished; and in this way only they
could be extracted.

u Ferunt has praestantissimas radices non sine pericnlo manu
effbdi, qua propter cas primum confodiendum esse, ita nt mini-
mum ex radice terri sit conditum, dein ab ei religandnm canem,
a quo postca fugiente radix cxtrahitur et sequitur, sed non adeo
longe, quandoquidem statim atque effossa est, canis moritur:
nullum postea accipientibus amplius nietum esse, imo summe
proficuas esse, maleficia et infortunia qiuecunque averteodo, et
felicitates quascunque (Icsiclerabiles afferendo." — Geoff.

" As an amulet this root was deposited on the mantle-pieces
to avert misfortune, and bring to the possessor every desirable
felicity:" — so degraded once was the Materia Mcdica, filled with
such absnrd and ridiculous fancies !

This root is anodyne and soporific; hence our immortal bard
makes Othello say, after his destruction of Desdemona,

-Not poppy nor mandraf osm,

Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world,
Shall ever medicine me to that sweet sleep
Which I had yesterday.

By this it appears it was formerly given in the form of a syrup,
and in powder it has been administered for this purpose in the
dose of three or fonr grains of the dried root A tincture has
been employed, but the extra** might answer better. Boer,
heave meotians, that erea the smell of the plant induces sleep *+•
" Haul planta loco clanso illata soman* ooaciMat lis qui dor.
mire non poterant, hinc odore cheitnr sornnmn exdtare,"

It has been employed by the ancients in maniacal cases ; and
Pallas mentions its frequent use in dreadful chronic disorders,
whieh require the aflofiation of eome powerful drug.

Heffberg adrises its use in " g*<*V' fo tlto dose of a scruple
three times aday ; a disease th^t baffles the ordinary remedies, and
ita unhappy sufferers are too often doomed to become the martyrs
Of dangerous experiments, which debilitate the habit, stop for a
time ihe progress of a disease perhaps salutary to the patient,
but soon after hfc finally rinks imdfef seme, other more dreadful
maladyr • •'*'-''' - —

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MANDRAKE. 175

In the king's e?il, scrophuloas or glandular affections, the
leaTct boiled with milk are reported by the great Boerhaare as
beneficial : " Folia ejus cum lacte in cataplasmatis formam cocta
condncnnt in omnibus tumoribus scrophulosis et scirrhosis."

Woodrille reports, that the berries of the mandrake may be
eaten without producing any bad effects, from the authority of
Ray. Boerhaare makes it doubtful ; " Frnctus comestus di-
dtur yitam extinguere, fentm dart yiri in Gallia publicd sine
noxa ederunt baccas." Haller says, that Rhaaes relates, that
such as hare eaten the berries of the mandragora, hare felt a
heatiness of the head, and that five af these apples have pro-
duced syncope and other dangerous symptoms, which he has
cured ; and that modern authors, worthy of credit, confirm the
report of its soporific effects, and sometimes producing convul*
sions and riolont maniacal fury* Respecting the root Haller
relates, that a priest haying chewed it for liquorice root, it pro-
duced cardialgia, syncope, and almost mortal delirium. Snch
contradictory reports merit inquiry* Perhaps next to an emetic,
acids may counteract this poison.

\ «

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1 UN III

'•-.

DEADLY NIGHTSHADE.

ATROPA BELLADONNA.

Clan V. Pentandria. Order I. Moaagynia.
Essekt. Go. Caaa. Corolla campanalate : Siamima diitant : Berry glo-
bular, two-celled,
8r£c. CflA». Stem berbaceoot : L$m*» orate, entire.

DESCRIPTION;

Root rery thick, whitish, Bending forth strong pnrple-colonrcd
stems, from three to Hie feet high. Leares of an unequal size,
entire, o?al, pointed, fn pairs, pn short or hardly any foot-
stalks. Flowers of a dark purple, large, pendant, bell-shaped,
furrowed, the border of which is cnt into fire segments.

HISTORY.

This plant is common in stony waste grounds, and flowers in

DBADLY NIGHTSHADE. 177

June or Jul/, and its berries ripen in September, when it ac-
quires a shining black colour. It is supposed to be the Xrp^yo*
fimnxof of Dioscorides, and has been long known as a very fatal

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

Raj found, by applying the leares of the belladonna near the
eye, a remarkable relaxation of the n?ea was produced. San*
rages (Nosol.) supposes that the belladonna was the plant which
produced such strange and dreadful effects upon the Roman sol-
diers during their retreat, under the command of Anthony, from
the Parthians: they are said to haye " suffered great distress
for want of provisions, and were urged to eat unknown plants ;
among others, they met with an herb that was mortal ; he that
had eaten of it lost his memory and his senses, and employed
himself wholly in turning about all the stones he could find ; and,
after romrtfng up bile, fell down dead."— Plutarch's Life of An*
thony. The Scotch historian Buchanan relates, that the Scots
mixed a quantity of the juice of the belladonna (Solan urn som-
niferam) with the bread and drink which by their trace they
were to supply the Danes with, which so intoxicated them that
the Scots killed the greatest part of Sweno'sarmy while asleep.—
Lib. yh\

Ray relates a curious instance of the effects of this plant in
the following words (Hist Plant p. 680) :— " Accidit, ni fallor,
tempore pontificis maximi Urbani ultimi, ut quidam de famulitio
cardinalis magni nominis (ut mini htc Augusts retulit ejus hor.
tnlanns) infunderit in-rino Malratico herbam illam qnam Bellam
Donnam vocant, daturam alias per noctem ut ejus herbse effectus
discerent; infusum hoc propinarunt cuidam fratri mendicanti ex
conrentu S. Hieronymi, qui Patatii Fratrum ignorantise dicitnr,
i primo breve delirium, cachinni, gesticulationes variae; dein
insanta ▼era, post stupor mentis qnalis est ebriorum Yigilantium.
Cardinalis pro ebrio in carcere includit ; deinde a medico qui
rem suboWecerat innocens pronuntiatur, qui aceti oyatho pro.
pinato, a dementia quam Bella Donna causarit eum Hberat"—
Hachstdlerns Decad. 7 ob.

And Shakespeare, in his Macbeth, makes Banquo say,

u Or have we eaten of the insane root
That takes the reason prisoner V

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J7$ MAM* HlCIHTiHAM.

The number ofr these berries necessary to produce deleterHre*
effect* may probably depend upon the ttate of maturity in
which they are eaten t if not more than three or four be swal-
lowed, according to Halter's account no bad consequence en.
sues : " Baccae sapore fatno duld possunt absque noxa edi si
numerus tres quatuory* noa excesserit: plures etiam 4 stndiosq
ipedicina Coionieoti nomine Simonis vidi deglutiri." — Hal. Stirp.
Jlelv. No. 679.

Bui when a greater number of the berries are tafceo into the
Stomach, scarcely half an hour elapses before violent symptom*
supervene ; viz. vertigo, delirium, great thirst, painful deglotfe
tioo, and retching, followed by furor, stridor dentium, and coo*
rulsions j the eye-lids are drawn down, the uvea dilated and inu
niovable*; the face becomes red and tumid, and spasms affect
fhe mouth end jaw ; the general sensibility and irritabiMty of
the body fuffer such great diminution, that the stomach often,
bears large and repeated doses of tart emet (gr. 14*) without
being brought into action ; the pulse is small, hard, quick, and
•ubsultus tendinum, risus sardonicus et coma, generally precede
death. The body being opened, inflammation has been disco-
vered in the intestines, mesentery, and liver, (Comm. Ifor. 1743,
p. 61.) And Boulduc, (Hist, de i'Acad. des Sc. de Paris, 1703,
p, 66,) found the stomach of a child eroded in three places. It
may be necessary to remark, that vinegar, liberally drunk, ha*
been found very efficacious in obviating the effects of this poisons
evacuations should, however, be always first premised.

The great Boerhaave relates, u that one berry alone is fatal,
that a gardener was hanged for neglecting removing these plants,
and that there is only one antidote known,-— honey miied with,
water, and a clyster o( honey and oil," His words are : " Usee
plaota est venenatispima, nam si homo unicam baccara comedat,
ilico convellitur, si plus, moritur, neque remedium contra hoc
Tonennm notnm est, ut tristissimo casu hie in Batavia contigit,
nt pueri allecti pulchritndine harum baccarum comederit, at
brevi sufibcati mortui sint, sic et in Aula Hetrusca accidit, ubi
tres pueri inde mortui sunt, qua de re hortulanus, cui jussum
erat has venenata* plantas cavere, suspendio f uit plexus ; unicum

• From this effect of dilating the pnpil, professor Reimar was indoced
to employ the belladonna before performing the operation for the cataracts
tpr dropping some of the Infusion into the eye.

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DEADLY NtfetiTSftAbfei W9

tafcinm est Temetfeam, quod est mil dum aqua,; in luagti^doptt",'
et clysma ex melle et oleo; exttrafe conductt' in tumoflbriY retf
sofVendls."

Conrad Gesner, the greatest genius of the age he lived in, whd
almost merits die proud appellation of the father of botany, hatf
the superior courage to try the expressed juice of this plant 'i
boiled with sugar, and taken to the amount of a tfea.spoonfa!,'
it imitated the operation of opium, and cured in hnn a most vfoi
teat dysentery.'-' .! - . •: i '«

- Lambergeb cured with the belladonna infused in water, by
the dose of two grains, increased t6 four dally, a true cancer. '
- Junker succeeded in the same matiner. ' Vanderiblock re-
moved also a cancerous tumour of the breast by the internal use
of the belladonna.

Degner dissipated a cancer of the breast, and cured an ulcer
of the leg arising from the bite of a leopard. ' ' )

Nor must we omit here the experience of our own practi-
tioners, Bromfield and Gataker, the latter of whom found it be-
neficial in the hooping cough.

In die Phil. Trans. toI. i. p. 77, mention is made of a woman
being cured of a cancer in her breast, by taking a tea-cupful
of an infusion of the dried leaves every morning. The complaint
at first grew worse, but after persevering some time in the use
of the medicine, the symptoms abated, and in about half a year
she was perfectly well. The infusion was made by pouring ten
tea-cupfuls of boiling water on twenty grains of the dried leaves,
and letting it stand to infuse all night in a warm place.

The celebrated Cullen says : " J have had a cancer of the lip
entirely cured by it ; — a scirrhosity in a woman's breast, of such
a kind as frequently proceeds to cancer, I have found entirely
discussed by the use of it ; — a sore a little below the eye, which
had put on a cancerous appearance, was much mended by the
internal use of the belladonna ; but the patient, having learned
somewhat of the poisonous nature of the medicine, refused to
continue the use of it, upon which the sore again spread, and
was painful ; but upon a return to the use of the belladonna was
again mended to a considerable degree ; when, the same fears
again returning, the use of it was again laid aside, and with the
same consequence of the sore becoming worse. Of these alter-
nate states, connected with the alternate use of, and absti.

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ISO DEADLY NIGHTSHADE.

nence from, the belladonna, there ware several of these altetf*
nations which fell under my own observation*"

The leaves of the belladonna were first used external]/ to dis*
cos* scirrhous and cancerous tumours, and ako as an application
to ill-conditioned ulcers : their good effects in this way at length
induced physicians to employ them internally for the same dis-
orders, and we hare a considerable number of well-authenticated
facts which prove them a very serviceable and important remedy.
But it must likewise be confessed, that many cases of this sort
have occurred in which the belladonna has been employed with-
out success : this, however, may be said of every medicine.

In our present state of medical science we would advise ex*
% treme caution in the use of such a poisonous drug : for, as the
great Halter says, we have seen from its use a furious delirium
arise, which has .continued j a permanent blindness ; and more
than one case where this remedy, used as a cure for the gout,
has proved fatal to the party.

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HENBANE.

HYOSCYAMUS NIGER.

Clou V. Pentandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Ettrarr. Gsw. Char. Gwtta funnel-shaped, obtuse s Stamina Inclined :

Cmpsuk operctilate, bilocular.
Spbc. Cvab. I^aoe* embracinf the stem, waving : Ftowen sessile.

DESCRIPTION.
Thb plant rises from one to two feet. The leaves are large,
cat into irregular lobes or pointed segments, of a glaucous co-
lour, undulated, woolly, and embrace the stem. Flowers are
f unnel-sbaped, the tube short, the border expanded, and cut into
ive obtuse segments. The colour is a dingey yellow, with bright
purple streaks, which is the livery of poisonous herb?, purple
with yellow being the characteristic. The calyx is also divided
into five short-pointed downy segments.

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182 v HENBANE.

^ HlSfORY.

Henbane ia aa annual plant, wm>h grows in great abundance
in most parts of Britain, by. the road sides and among rubbish,
flowers in July*, Its smell is strong, and peculiar, and when
bruised somewhat like tobacco, especially when the leaTes are
burnt ; and on burning they sparkle, as if they contained a ni*
trate ; when chewed, however, they have no saline taste, bat
are insipid, mild, and mucilaginous. »

MEDICAL USE.

/ This, like the last, is often a fatal poison. Many examples
might be produced ; but out of the many instances of this kind,
we shall only advert to some of them, in order to show that the
roots, seeds, and leaves of this plant have separately produced
poisonous effects. Dr. Patouillat, physician at Toucy in France,
relates, in the Phil. Trans, vol. xl. p. 446, that nine persons,
in consequence of having eaten the roots of hyoscyamus, were
seized with most alarming symptoms : " Some were speechless,
and showed no other signs of life than by convulsions, contor-
tions of the limbs, and the risus sardonicus ; all having their eyed
starting out of their heads, and their mouths drawn backwards
on both sides : others had all the symptoms alike : however, five
of them did now and then open their mouths, but it was to utter
howlings. The madness of all these patients was so complete,
and their agitations so violent, that in order to give one of them
the antidote, I was. obliged to employ six strong; men to hold him
while I was getting his teeth asunder to pour down the remedy."
And, what is remarkable, Dr. Patouillat says, that on their re-
covery all objects appeared to them as red as scarlet, for two
or three days. Further accounts of the effects of these roots are
given by Wepfer de Cicut. &c. p. 230 : Simon Pauli Quadr.
p. 384 : Blom, in Vet Ac Jlandl. 1774, p. 52. Respecting
the seeds of henbane, we have an account given by sir Hans
Sloane, in the Phil. Trans, vol. xxxviiL p. 99, of four children
who ate them by mistaking the capsules, hi which they were con-
tained, for filberts. " The symptoms that appeared in all the
four were great thirst, swimmings of the head, dimness of sight,
ravings, profound sleep, which last in one of the children con-
tioued two days and nights." See also Essays and Observations,
Phys. and Lit., vol. ik p. 243: Hclmont. Ort Med. p. 306:
l]phemcr. Germ, aftnis i et 8, &c. The leaves of hyoscyatnns,

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w« am told, wwe boiled in broth, and eaten by fcjveri person*
(ive neB aad two women), who seen became affected with aym-
ftoms of intoxication. Dr. Stedman says : ," I taw them about
three hours after baring eaten it; and then three o/ the men were
become qnfee insensible, did not know their comrades, talked
incoherently, aad were in as high a delirium as people in the,
cage of a feter. All of them had low irregular pulses, slavered,
and frequently changed colour : their eyes looked fiery, and
they catched at whatever lay next them, calling oat that it was
going to fall."— PhiL Trans. roU xlvii. an. 1*50.

Haller relates, " that a young student of great spirit and
thirst for knowledge (Simon), from an experiment on himself
with this plant, became idiotic, and paralytic on. one side, find
was with difficulty restored."-*-" Memini sodalein meum Simo*
nium, cum Lekte meeum, anna 1725. Boerhaarti schoks fre4
quentaret, aconita, apocyna, belladonnas baccas impane de*i
wrasse, ab hyoteyami vefo Semine victum, aimim ouriositttis
poena* dedisse, atqne mente alietiatum, alteroque lateral resekw
turn, taaen a preceptore serratum fuisse." Stirp. Heli. ri. 580*

Henbane, in a moderate dose, often produces sweat, and
sometime* an eruption of pustjtlcs, and generally sound sleep,
Succeeded by serenity of mind and recruited vigoulr of the body ?
but, like the other narcotics, instead of these it sometimes gives
rise to vertigo, headaek, and general uneasiness. With parti*
eular individual* it occasions vomiting, colic pains, a copiewf
flow of mine, and sometimes purging. In excessive doses its
effects are fatal ; general debility, delirium, remarkable dilate*'
tioo of the pupils of the eyes, convulsions, death. Upon the
whole, like opium, it is a powerful anodyne ; tfnd, like cicuta,
it is free from any constipating effect, having rather a tendency
to move the belly.

• Dr. Cullen says: " We have indeed found the hyoscyasoruft te
be often an agreeable anodyne and soporiferous medicine ; and
we have frequently found it such in persons who, from particular
-circumstances, did not agree with opium, and particularly be-
cause it was less binding to the body than opium. We judge,
■fiowevcr, that it b more ready in full doses to give delirium than4
•opium is, and therefore we found it in many cases to* give tur-
bulent and unrefreshing sleep ; and notwithstanding its laxative
qualities, for which we had employed it, we have beeri obliged
to lay it aside." Stoerck and some others recommend this e*<

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184 HENBANE.

tract III the dose of oh grain or two ; but Dr. Cation observes*
that he seldom discovered its anodyne effects tW he had proceeded
to doses of eight or ten grain*, and sometimes to fifteen, and ■
even to twenty.

From the writings of Dioscorides and others, it appears that
deferent species of henbane hare been long used in the practice
of mcdkjno. By Cetsns it was applied externally as a collyrium
in ophthalmia ; for allaying the pain of the toothach ; and he
gave it internally as an anodyne.

Heledins first gave the seeds of henbane in hamoptoe (spitting
of blood), aftd^he same was afterwards snccessfally employed by
Forrestns and our Boyle.

Gander employed the same means in dysentery with advan-
tage, and Tnrgnet for epilepsy : but the danger of the remedy
(for Tnrguet gave from eight to twenty.five grains) soon brought
it into disuse.

It was at length retired by Dr. Stork of Vienna, who made an
Emacr by evaporating the expressed joke of the plant; and in
ooavuMoas he gare two grains, increasing the dose to five, six,
even to ten and sixteen grains a day.

He conquered an epilepsy by giving six grains a day of the
same remedy. Haller says, that be also cured several persons
afflicted with this disease by mixing together a grain of the extract
of hyoscyamus, with the same quantity of the misseltoe and peony
root, and giving at first one grain a day, each day augmenting
the dose by a single grain until it was increased to twenty,
when it was continued a week ; after that twenty grains twice
s day every other day, and on the alternate days only twenty
grains, for another week, and then forty grains for two days,
after which it was reduced to fiye grains every day.

Stork afterwards gave it in both furious and melancholy mad-
mess with success, administering daily at first two, then four to
eight grains of the extract.

In hemoptysis he gave three grains.

Convulsions were also cured by him in the same manner, as
well as a bad palpitation of the heart

He applied it also in wandering rheumatic pains, in indur*.
tions of the breast from retained milk, painful swellings, whe-
ther scirrhous or not, all scrofulous and cancerous ulcers, in
inflamed and the blind piles. The remedy employed, besides
the extract internally, was under the form of a cataplasm of

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HENBANB. 185

the bruised lefties, mixed with bread and milk ; of an ointment
made with the powder of the leaves, with wax and oil ; of a
simple powder, sprinkled on the sore, or as a decoction with
milk.

Schenkbecfcer, as Haller reports, gave an ounce of the extract
daring the space of twelve days for a vertigo, which disappeared
in consequence, and without the smallest injury to the patient.

Gesner cured with it a very strong hysteric affection.

After all these testimonies in its favour, it would be wrong in
as at once to discard the hyoscyamus from amongst our cata-
logue of valuable medicinal plants, although it must be confessed
that i cveral practitioners have complained of not reaping the
same successful issue in practice as has been related ; and even
the great Dr. Cullcn affirms : " We have frequently employed it,
but have never found it of any great virtue, not more than is to
be met with in opium ;" yet still we may hesitate in passing our
final judgment, at the same time advising a very cautious use of a
remedy that, injudiciously administered, might prove of the highest
injury to the community ; always anxious to dissuade from em-
ploying powerful poisonous remedies, except it be in cases truly
deplorable, when indeed it may be perhaps justified, as leaving
only the choice of two evils.

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THORN-APPLE.

DATURA STRAMONIUM.

Clast V. Pcntandria. Order I. MonogynKa.
Sment. Gen. Chab. Corolla funnel -shaped, plicate. Cmfyx tubular*
angular, deciduous. Capsule four-valve d.

DESCRIPTION.
1 1118 plant rises two* feet in height. Stem large, upright, abovtf
forked. Leaves alternate, large, broad towards the base, pointed
at the extremity, toothed, varying in the size of these teeth,
standing upon strong footstalks. Flowers solitary, white, large,
consisting of a single leaf, plicate, cut Into five teeth, standing
upon a long tube. Anthers conspicuous Capsule covered ttitfr

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tx*iur-AFPi*. 187

Ninety litfr, fleshy, opening with fofcr valves, showing a co-
lumn in the centre, giving nourishment and support to may
kidney-shaped seeds.

HISTORY.

The thorn-apple is an annual plant, a native of America, gnu
dually diffusing itself from the south to the north, and now even
growing wild on dry hills and uncultivated places in England
and other parts of Europe. The leaves are dark green, sessile,
large, egg-shaped, pointed, angular, and deeply indented, of a
disagreeable smell and nauseous taste. Every part of the plant
fe a strong narcotic poison, producing vertigo, torpor, death*
Dr. Barton mentions the cases pf two British soldiers who ate it
by mistake for the Chenopodium album : one became furious and
ran about like a madman, and the other died with the symptoms
of genuine tetanus* The best antidote to its effects is said to be
vinegar.

The following advertisement appeared in the Bath paper, with
the respectable signature of Dr. Hay garth :

" Gardeners are particularly desired to take care never to
throw poisonous plants out of gardens into the streets, lanes,
or even the fields to which people can have access. Poor chil-
dren, for diversion, curiosity, or hunger, are prompted to eat
all kinds of vegetables which come in their way, especially seeds,
fruits, or roots. This cautipn does not proceed from fanciful
speculation, but from actual mischief, produced by the cause
here specified. A physician has lately seen several children poi-
soued with the roots of the aconite or monkshood, thrown into
an open field in the city of Chester, and with the seeds of the
stramonium or thorn-apple, thrown into the street. The former
were seized with very violent complaints of vomiting, an alarm*
iiig pain of the head, stomach, and bowels ; the latter with blind-
ness, and a kind of madness, biting, scratching, shrieking,
laughing, and crying, in a frightful manner. Many of them
were very dangerously affected, and escaped very narrowly with
life. These, and all other poisonous plants, taken out of gajw
dens, should be carefully buried or burned."

I shall relate only the following case from Dr. Woodville :
" A man, aged sixty-nine, labouring under a calculous com*
plaint, by mistake boiled the capsules of the stramonium in milk,
and in consecguence of drinking this decoetiati Was affected with

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188 TMOftX-AFHA,

vertigo, dryness *t the fauces, anxiety, foflowei wHk lost of
voice and sense j the pulse became small and quick, the extre-
mities cold, the limbs paralytic, the features distorted, aeoom.
paoied with violent delirium, continual watchfulness, and a total
suppression of all the evacuations ; but in a few hours he was
restored to his former state of health."

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

This plant has been long known as a powerful narcotic poi.
son ; its congener, the D. metei, is thought to be Xrf «%yo* /*«-
nxo$ of Theophrastus and Dioscorides, and is therefore the spe-
cies received by Linn* us into the materia medica. The stra-
monium, in its recent state, has a bitterish taste, and a smell
somewhat resembling that of poppies, or, as called by Bergius,
narcotic, especially if the leaves be rubbed betwixt the fingers.
By holding the plant to the nose for some time, or sleeping in a
bed where the leaves are strewed, giddiness of the head and stu*
por are said to have been produced.

Odhelius tells us, that of fourteen patients suffering under
epileptic and convulsive affections, to whom he gave the stra-
monium, in an hospital at Stockholm, eight were completely
cured, five were relieved, and only one received no benefit.
Bergius relates three cases of its success, viz. one of mania, and
two of convulsions. Reef, a Swedish physician, mentions its
utility in two cases of mania. Wedeuberg cured four girls, af-
fected with convulsive complaints, by the use of this medicine.
Other instauces of the kind might be added. Greeting, however,
who made many experiments with a view to ascertain the efficacy
of this plant, was not so successful ; for out of the great num.
ber of cases in which he employed the stramonium, it was only
in one instance that it effected 'a cure ; and he objects to the
cases stated by Dr. Odhelius, on the ground that the patients
were dismissed before sufficient time was allowed to know whe-
ther the disease would return again or not In this country we
are unacquainted with any practitioners whose experience tends
to throw any light on the medical character of this plant It
appears to us, that its effects as a medicine are to be referred to
no other power than that of a narcotic ; and Dr. Cullen, speak-
ing on this subject, says, " I have no doubt that narcotics may
be a remedy in certain cases of mania and epilepsy ; but I have
not, and I doubt if any other person hat, learned to distinguish

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thorn-apple. 189

Hie cases to which such remedies are property adapted. It is
therefore that we find the other narcotics, as well as the stra-
monium, to fail m the same hands in which they had in other
cases seemed to succeed. It is this consideration that has occa-
sioned my neglecting the use of stramonium, and therefore pre-
rented me from speaking more precisely from my own expe-
rience on this subject."

Dr. Stork, I believe, was the first who tried the thorn-apple
as a remedy in mania and melancholy with considerable success.
Several cases of the same diseases were also cured or relieved by
it, nuder the direction of different Swedish physicians. Dr.
Barton, professor of botany in America, considers it to be a
medicine of great efficacy ; and although, with others, it has fre-
quently failed, it deserves the attention of practitioners, and well
merits a trial in affections often incurable by other means. It
has also been employed, and sometimes with advantage, in con*
vulsive and epileptic affections. An ointment prepared from the
leaves has been said to give ease 1n external inflammations and
hemorrhoids. The inspissated juice of the leaves has been most
commonly used, but its exhibition requires die greatest caution.
At first, a quarter of a grain is a sufficient dgse. Dr. Barton
gives' it in powder, beginning with doses of a few grains, and
increasing them in a few days to 15 or 20. In a case in which
it was exhibited to the extent of 30 grains, it dilated the pupil
of one eye, and produced paralysis of the eyelids, which was
removed by a blister ; and the bruised leaves, according to Plenk,
soften hard and inflamed tumours, and discuss tumours in the
breasts of nurses from indurated milk*

Hufelamd gave it In the form of a tincture, prepared of two
ounces of the seeds in four ounces of wine and one of diluted
alcohol, in diseases of the mind.

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Omt V. Pentandria. Onto- I. MonegyBle.
Ewawr* ten. Cvak. CsreJb fuaBel-flhaped, lUnb plicate : S*«nuji« ia-

dinet : GapiuU twe~iatod, two-celled.
8pec. Char. Imwj lanceolate-ovate, sessile, decmrent: FUmert with

segments acute.

DESCRIPTION.
This plant rises from fiie to -six feet in height; stalk erect.
]Leares large, oblong, pointed, veined, entire, of a pale green,
without footstalks. The bracteas are long, linear, pointed. The
corolla is composed of a single petal, funnel-shaped, with along
tube beset with short hairs, and whose border is cat into five
segments, ending acute. The calyx is large, also hairy, ending
In five pointed segments. The capsule is oval, divided into two
•ells, containing many small roundish seeds.

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TbHACCOf 101

HISTO RY.

The Nicotiana is a natit e of America, and flowers in Jury and
August Tobacco was first imported into Europe about the*
piddle of the sixteeatfi century by Hernandez de Toledo, who
tent it to Spain and Portugal ; at that time the ambassador of
Francis II. resided at the court of Lisbon, and in the jeer 1660
he carried the tobacco into France, when it was presented ta
Catharine de Medicis as a plant from the new world possessing
extraordinary virtues. The ambassador's name was Nioot, nod
hence the appellation Nieotiana. It appears from Lobel, that
this plant was cultivated in Britain previous to the year 1670 p
and the introduction of the custom of smoking it in England in
ascribed to sir Walter Raleigh. The cultivation of tobacco ia
now common in various parts of the globe, and though prohU
bited by the laws of this country, still the manufacture of it
I forms no inconsiderable branch of commerce.

MEDICAL USE.

This plant was first brought into Europe about the year 1500,-
from the island of Tobago in America, and is now sometimes
cultivated for medicinal use in our gardens, but in general im-
ported from America in large quantities. The leaves are about
two feet long, of a pale green colour whilst fresh, and when
carefully dried of a lively yellowish cast. They have a strong,
disagreeable smell, like that of the narcotic plants, and a very
acrid burning taste. Taken internally, they prove virulently
cathartic and emetic, occasioning almost intolerable cardialgic
anxieties. By boiling in water their virulence is abated, and at
length destroyed. An extract made by long coction is recom-
mended by Stahl and other German physicians as a safe and most
effectual aperient, expectorant, detergent, &c. ; but this medi-
cine, which is extremely precarious and uncertain in strength,
has never come into esteem among us. Of late, however, To-
| bacco, under the form of a vinous or watery infusion, and taken

in such small doses as to produce little effect from its action on
the stomach, has been recommended to the attention of prac*
titioners by Dr. Fowler. He has found it to be a very useful
and powerful diuretic, and has published many cases of dropsy
and dysury, in which its employment has been attended with the

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199 TOBACCO,

best effects. And these good effects have been confirmed by the
observations of other practitioners.

Tobacco is sometimes used externally in unguents, for de-
stroying cutaneous insects, cleansing old ulcers, Ac Beaten
into a mash with vinegar or brandy, it has sometimes proved
serviceable for removing hard tumours of the hypoehoodres j mar
account is given in the Edinburgh Essays of two cases of this
kind cared by it

Injections by the anus of the smoke or decoction have been
used with advantage in cases of obstinate constipation threaten,
ing ileus, of incarcerated hernia, of ascarldes, of spasmodic asth.
ma, and of persons apparently dead from drowning or other sad*
den causes. It has been used internally in the form of syrup,
conserve, and infusion, in cases of worms, epilepsy, aroenorrhoea,
asthma, dec. ; but it is certainly too active to be thus ventured
on. An mfnskm of its ashes, recommended in dropsy, is not
probably different from other vegetable lixivia.

Dr. Cullen remarks, respecting tobacco : An infusion of from
half a drachm to a drachm of the dried lea? es, or of these as they
are commonly prepared for chewing, for an hour or two, in
four ounces of boiling water, affords an emetic which has been
employed by some practitioners, but more commonly by the
vulgar only. As it has no peculiar qualities as an emetic, and
its operation is commonly attended with severe sickness, it has
not been, nor is it likely ever to come into common practice
with physicians.

It is more commonly employed as a purgative in clysters ; and,
as generally very effectual, it is employed in all cases of moat
obstinate costtveness $ and its powers have been celebrated by
many authors. I have known it to be in frequent use with some
practitioners ; and it is indeed a very effectual medicine, but at.
tended with this inconvenience, that when the dose happens to be
in any excess, it occasions severe sickness at the stomach ; and
I ha?e known it frequently occasion vomiting.

It is well known, that in cases of obstinate costireness, in
ileus and incarcerated hernia, the smoke of burning tobacco has
been thrown into the anus with great advantage* The smoke
operates here by the same qualities that are in the infusions of
it abore mentioned ; but as the smoke reaches much further into
the intestines than injections can commonly do, it is thereby

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TOBACCO. JftS

applied to a larger surface, and may therefore be a mora power- -
fal medicine than the infusions. In several instances, however,
I have been disappointed of its effects, and ha* e been, obliged to
have recourse to other meant.

The ioftmon of tobacco, when it is carried into the blood.
vessels, bee sometimes shown its stimulant powers exerted in the
Judneys ; and Tory lately we have had it recommended to us a*
a powerful diuretic of great service in dropsy. Upon the faith-
of theae recommendations we hare now employed this remedy
in rations eases of dropsy, but with very little success. From
the email doses that are proper to begin with, we have hardly
observed any diuretic effects ; and though from larger doses they
have in some measure appeared, we have seldom found them
considerable ; and when, to obtain these in a greater degree, we
have gone on increasing the doses, we have been constantly re-
strained by the severe sickness at stomach, and even- vomiting,
which they occasioned : so that we have not yet learned the ad-
Bttnietratkm of this remedy so as to render it a certain or con.
veoieot remedy in any cases of dropsy.

The same circumstances have occurred to several other prac-
titionarp of this city and neighbourhood ; and of late the trials
of it have been very generally omitted, owing perhaps to our
practitioners being directed at the same time to the use of the
digitalis, with which they have had some more success.

From some experiments we are certain that tobacco contains a
quantity of volatile parts that may be dissipated by long boiUng
in water; And that by such a practice its emetic, purgative,, and
narcotic qualities may be greatly diminished; and we ace of opi-
nion that the preparation in extract, as prescribed in the Wir-
tenbeig Dispensatory, is upon a good foundation, and may he
employed in pectoral cases with more advantage and safety than
the simple infusion or decoction made by a short boiling onty.

When me were restrained in employing the infusion of tobacco
as a diuretic, as mentioned, we expected to succeed better with
the decoction ; and I have found that by long boiling this might
be given in much larger doses than the infusion ; but we $tiU
ibund it retaining so much of the emetic quality, that we could not
employ it a* a diuretic without being interrupted in its, use by the
same emetic quality that had interrupted the use of the infusion.

Besfcfer the internal uses of tobacco mentioned, I most now
remark, that it has likewise been commended for its virtues at

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194t TOBACCO.

externally employed* I have known the infasion employed with
advantage as a lotion for some obstinate ulcers : but the many
instances of its being absorbed, and proving thereby a violent
poison, dissuade from such a practice ; especially as there art
other medicines, of as much efficacy, that may be employed with
much more safety. Bergius recommends it to be employed as a
fomentation in the paraphymosis ; but we have had no oppor-
tunity of employing it.

Smoking, Snuff-taking, &c. — The following excellent observa-
tions are extracted from Dr. Cullen :— Tobacco is a well-known
drug, of a narcotic qnality, which it discovers in all persons,
even in small quantity, when first applied to them. I have
known a small quantity of it, snuffed up the nose, produce gid-
diness, stupor, and vomiting ; and when applied in different
ways, in larger quantity, there are many instances of its more
violent effects, even of its proving a mortal poison. In ail these
instances it operates in the manner of other narcotics: bet
along with its narcotic qualities it possesses also a strongly sti-
mulant power, perhaps with respect to the whole system, but
especially with respect to the stomach and intestines ; so as rea-
dily, even in no great doses, to prove emetic and purgative.

By this combination of qualities all the effects of tobacco may
be explained, but I shall begin with considering its effects as they
appear in the nse of it as an article of living. *

As such it has been employed by snuffing, smoking, and
chewing; practices which, as having been for two hundred yean
past common to all Europe, need not be described here. Like
other narcotics, the nse of it may be introduced by degrees ; so
that its peculiar effects, even from large quantities employed,
may not, or may hardly at all appear : but this does not
contradict the account I have given of its qnality with respect
to persons unaccustomed to it, and even of its tendency to show
its power in those much accustomed to it ; for even in these the
power of habit has its limits ; so that in persons going but a little
beyond the dose to which they have been accustomed, very vio-
lent effects are sometimes produced.

On this subject it is to be remarked, that the power of habit'

is often unequal ; so that in persons accustomed to the use of

tobacco, a lesser quantity than what they had been accustomed

to, will often have stronger effects than had before commonly

-appeared. I knew a lady who had been for more- than twenty

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TOBACCO; 195

jean accustomed to take snuff, and that at every time of day 5
bat she came at length to observe, that snuffing a good deal be-
fore dinner took away her appetite ; and she came at length to
find, that a single pinch, taken any time before dinner, took away
almost entirely her appetite for that meal. When, however, she
abstained entirely from snuff before dinner, her appetite coatiu
noed as usual ; and after dinner, for the rest of the day, she took
snuff pretty freely without any inconvenience.
. This is an instance of the inequality of the power of habit in
exerting Us effects ; but in what cases this may take place we
cannot determine, and must now go on in marking its usual
and ordinary powers. When snuff, that is, tobacco in powder,
b first applied to the nose, it proves a stimulus, and excites
sneezing ; but by repetition that effect entirely ceases.

When snuff is first employed, if it be not both in small quan-
tity, and be not thrown out immediately by sneezing, it occa-
sions some giddiness and confusion of head ; but by repe-
tition these effects cease to be produced, and no particular eftect
of it appears in the accustomed, when not taken beyond the
usual quantity. But even in the accustomed, when it is taken
beyond the usual quantity, it produces somewhat of the same
giddiness and confusion of head that it did when first employed ;
and in several cases these effects in the accustomed, depending on
a larger dose, are not only more considerable, as they act on
the seosoriam, but as they appear also in other parts of the sy-
stem, particularly in the stomach, occasioning a loss of appetite
and other symptoms of a weakened tone in that organ.

With respect to this, it is to be observed, that persons who
take a great deal of snuff, though they seen, from the power of
habit, to escape its narcotic effects, yet as they are often liable
to go to excess in the quantity taken, so they are still in danger
from these effects operating in an insensible manner ; and I have
observed several instances of their being affected in the same
Manner as persons are from the long-continued use of other nar-
cotics, such as wine and opium ; that is, by a loss of memory,
Jby a fatuity, and other symptoms of the weakened or senile
.state of the nervous system, induced before the usual period.

Among other effects of excess in snuffing, I have found ali
the symptoms of dyspepsia produced by it, and particularly
pain* of the stomach, occurring every day. The dependence of
these upon the use of snuff became very evident from hence, that

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196 TObAOCO.

•poii an accidental interruption of snuffing for some days these
pains did not occur, but upon a return to snuffing the pains
also recurred; and this alternation of pains of the stomach and
of snuffing having occurred again, the snuff was entirely laid aside,
and the pains did not occur for many months after, nor, so far
as I know, tor the rest of life.

A special effect of snuffing is its -exciting a considerable dis-
charge of mucus from the nose ; and there have been several in-
stances of headaons, toothaohs, and ophthalmias relieved by this
means : and this is to be particularly remarked, that when this
discharge of mucus is considerable, the ceasing or suppression of
it, by abstaining from snuff, is ready to occasion the very disofr
ders of headaeh, toothach, and ophthalmia, whidh it had for-
merly relieved.

Another effect of snuffing to be taken notice of is, that as
a patt of the snuff is often carried back into the fauces, so a
part of this is often carried down into the stomach, and then
more certainly produces the dyspeptic symptoms mentioned.
These are the considerations that relate to snuffing, and some of
them will readily apply to the other modes of using this drog.

Smoking, when first practised, shows very strongly the nar-
cotic, vomiting, and even purging powers of tobacco, and it is
very often useful as an anodyne ; but by repetition these effects
disappear, or only show themselves when the quantity tonoked
is beyond what habit had before admitted of; and even in per-
sons much accustomed to it, it may be carried so far as to prove
a mortal poison. From much smoking all the same effects may
arise which we said might arise from excess in snuffing.

With respect to tke evacuation of mucus which is produced
by muffing, there are analogous effects produced by smoking)
which commonly stimulates the mucous follicles of the mouth
and lances, and particularly the excretories of the salivary
glands. By the evaluation* from both sources, with the concur-
rence of the narcotfe power, the toothach is often greatly tv>
Uevedbyit; but we have not found the smoking relieve head*
neks and ophtaalmiasio much as snuffing often does. Some-
times smoKiag dries the mouth and fences, and occasion a de-
mand for driaki; .but,** commonly the stimulus it appHee to the
mucous foilictai and salivary glands -draws forth their liquids, fc
•ccaslonsiou the other band u- frequent spitting.
Solar as this is nf the proper saliva, it oceasions a waste df

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TOBACCO. 197

that liquid so necessary in the business of digestion ; and both
by this waste and by the narcotic power at the same time applied,
the tone of the stomach is often weakened^ and every kind of
dyspeptic symptoms is produced. Though in smoking a great
part of the smoke is again blown out of the mouth, still a part of
it must necessarily pass into the lungs* and its narcotic power ap-
plied there often relieves spasmodic astfcM; and by its stimulant
power it there also sometimes promotes expectoration,, and proves
useful in the catarrhal or pituitous difficulty ef breathing.

Smoking has been frequently mentioned as a means of guard*
ing men against contagion. Jn the case of the plague, the testi-
mony of Diemerbroek is Tory strong ; but Riv'mus and others
give us many facts which contradict this : and Chenot gives a re-
markable instance of its inutility. We cannot, indeed, suppose
that tobacco contains an antidote of any contagion, or that in
general it has any antiseptic power ; and therefore we cannot
allow that it has any special use in this case : but it is very pro-
bable that this and other narcotics, by diminishing sensibility,
may render men less liable to contagion, and by rendering the
mind less active and anxious it may also render men less liable
to fear, which has so often the power of exciting the activity of
the contagion. The antiloimie powers- of tobacco are therefore
on the same footing with those of wine, brandy, and opium.

The third mode of using tobacco is that of chewing it, when
it shows its narcotic qualities as strongly as in any other way of
applying it ; though the nauseous taste of it commonly prevents
its being carried far in the first practice. When the practice,
however, is continued, as it is very difficult to avoid some part of
%t dissolved in the saliva from going down into the stomach, so
this, with the nausea excited by the taste, makes vomiting more
readily occasioned by this than the other modes of applying it.
They are the strong, and even disagreeable impressions repeated,
that give the most durable and tenacious habits, aud therefore
the chewing of tobacco is apt to become one of these ; and it is
therefore in this way that it is ready to be carried to the greatest
excess, and to show all the ctfects of the frequent and large use
of narcotics. As it commonly produces a considerable evacua-
tion from the mouth and fauces, so it is the roost powerful in
relieving the rheumatic affection of toothach. This practice is
also the occasion of the greatest waste of saliva ; and the effects
of this in weakening digestion, and perhaps from thence espe-
cially, its noted effect of producing emaciation, may appear.

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COFFEE TREE.

COFFEA ARABICA.

Class V. Pentandria. Order I. Monogynia.
EasrNT. Gen. Char. Corolla funnel-shaped : Stamina above the tube t

Berry beneath, two-seeded : Seed with an aril.
Spec. Char. Flowers five-deft, two-seeded.

DESCRIPTION.

1 in 9 tree rises to about twelve feet in height. The leaves aie
pointed, waved, opposite, three or four inches in length, on
very short footstalks. Flowers white, axillary, sessile, two
or three together. Calyx very small. Corolla funnel-shaped,
cut into five segments. Tube long, narrow. Fruit a round
fleshy red berry, containing two seeds, invested t>y a cartilagi-
nous arillus.

HISTORY.

The coffee tree is a native of Arabia, and was first noticed
by Rauwolfius in 1573, but first regularly described by AJpinns

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COFFEE THEE. K)9

io 1591. It was cultivated by bishop Compton in 1606, and is
oow common in the stoves of this country* The earliest account
we hare of coffee is taken from an Arabian manuscript in the
king of France's library, No. 944, and is as follows : —

Schehabeddin Ben, an Arabian author of the ninth century
of the Hegira, or fifteenth of the Christians, attributes to Ge-
maleddin, mufti of Aden, a city of Arabia Felix, who was nearly
his cotemporary, the first introduction into that country of drink-
big coffee. He tells us, that Gemaleddin, having occasion to
travel into Persia, during his abode there saw some of his coun-
trymen drinking coffee, which at that time he did not much at-
tend to; but on his return to Aden, finding himself indisposed,
and remembering that he had seen his countrymen drinking cof-
fee in Persia, in hopes of receiving some benefit from it, he de-
termined to try it on himself; and, after making the experiment,
not only recovered his health, but perceived other useful quali-
ties in that liquor ; such as relieving the head-ach, enlivening the
spirits, and, without prejudice to the constitution, preventing
drowsiness. This last quality he resolved to turn to the advan-
tage of his profession : he took it himself, and recommended it
to the dervises, or religious Mahometans, to enable them to pass ,
the night in prayer, and other exercises of their religion, with
greater zeal and attention. The example and authority of the
mufti gave reputation to coffee. Soon men of letters, and per-
sons belonging to the law, adopted the use of it. These were
followed by the tradesmen and artisans that were under the
necessity of working in the night, and such as were obliged to
travel late after sun-set. At length the custom became general in
Aden ; and it was not ouly drunk jn the night by those who
were desirous of being kept awake, but in the day for the sake
of its other agreeable qualities.

The Arabian author adds, that they found themselves so well
by drinking coffee, that they entirely left off the use of an infu-
sion of a herb called in their language cat, which possibly might
be tea, though the Arabian author gives us no particular reason
to think so.

Before this time coffee was scarce known in Persia, and very
little used in Arabia, where the tree grew ; but, according to
Schehabeddin, it had been drunk in ^Ethiopia from time imme-
morial.

Coffee being thus received at Aden, where it has continued

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ttiO OOWftE TBM.

in use titer since without Interruption, posted by degrees to
many neighbouring towns ; and not long after reached Mecca,
where it was introduced, as at Aden, by the dervises, and for
the same purposes of religion*

The inhabitants of Mecca were at last so fond of this liquor,
that, without regarding the intention of the religious and other
studious persons, they at length drank ft publicly in coflee-
houses, where they assembled in crowds to pass the time agree*
ably, making that the pretence : here they played at chess, and
such other kind of games, and that even for money. In these hottso*
they amused themselves likewise with singing, dancing, and music,
contrary to the manners of the rigid Mahometans, which after-
wards was the occasion of some disturbances. From hence the
Custom extended itself to many other towns of Arabia, and par,,
tlcularly to Medina, and then to Grand Cairo in Egypt, where
the derrises of the province of Yemen, who lived in a district
by themselves, drank coffee the nights they intended to spend in
devotion. They kept it in a large red earthen vessel, and re*
ceived it respectfully from the hand of their superior, who poured
it out into cups for them himself. Be was soon imitated by
many devout people of Cairo, and their example followed hf
the studious ; and afterwards by so many people, that coffee be-
came as common a drink in that great city, as at Aden, Mecca,
and Medina, and other cities of Arabia.

But at length the rigid Mahometans began to disapprove the
use of coffee, as occasioning frequent disorders, and too nearly
resembling wine hi its effects, the drinking of which is contrary
to the tenets of their religion. Government was therefore obliged
to interfere, and at times to restrain the use of it. However, |f
had become so universally liked, that it was found afterwards
necessary to take off all restraint for the future.

Coffee continued its progress through Syria, and was received
at Damascus and Aleppo without opposition ; and in the year
1554, under the reign of the great Soliman, one hundred years
after its introduction by the mufti of Aden, it became known to
the inhabitants of Constantinople ; when two private persons,
whose names were Schems and Hekin, the one coming from
Damascus and the other from Aleppo, each opened a coffee-
house in Constantinople, and sold coffee publicly in rooms fitted
op in an elegant manner ; which were presently frequented by
men of learning, and particularly poets aad other persons, who

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cewrsE TMB, 191

came to amuse (hemseiree with a game of chess or draughts, or
to make acquaintance, and pass their time agreeably at a small
expense.

These houses and assemblies insensibly became so much in
vogue* that they were frequented by people of all professions,
and even by the officers of the seraglio, the pachas, and persona
of the first rank about the court* However, when they seemed
to be the most firmly established, the irtians, or officers of the
mosques, complained loudly of their being deserted, while the
coffee-houses were full of company. The dermises and the reli-
gious orders murmured, and the preachers declaimed against
them, asserting that it was a less sin to go to a brothel than to a
eo&e-faouse.

After much wrangling, the devotees united their interests
to obtain an authentic condemnation of coffee, and deter*
mined to present to the mufti a petition for that purpose ; in
which they advanced, that roasted coffee was a kind of coal, and
that what had any relation to coal was forbid by law* Tbty
desired him to determine on this matter according to the duty of
his office*

Th<* chief of the law, without entering much into the question,
gavp such a decision as they wished for, and pronounced that
the drinking of coffee was contrary to the law of Mahomet

So respectable is the authority of the mufti, that mdMky
dared to find fault with his sentence. Immediately all the coffee*
houses were shut, and the officers of the police were commanded
to prevent any one from drinking coffee. However, the habit
was become so strong, and the use of it so generally agreeable,
that the people continued, notwithstanding all prohibitions, to
drink it in their own houses. The officers of the police, seeing
they could not suppress the use of k, allowed of the selling it
on paying a tax, and of I the drinking it, provided it was not
done openly ; so that it was drunk in particular places with the
doors shut, or in the back room of some of the shopkeepers*
houses/

Under colour of this, coffee-houses by little and little were
to-established ; and a new mufti, less scrupulous and more en.
tightened than his predecessor, having declared puWkly that
coffee had no relation to coal, and that the infusion of it was
not contrary to the law of Mahomet, the number of coffee-
Rouses became greater than before* After this declaration, the

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302 COFFBE TBBE.

religions orders, the preachers, the lawyers, and even the mufti
himself, drank coffee ; and their example was followed univer-
sally by the court and city.

The grand viziers, having possessed themselves of a special
authority over the houses in which it was permitted to be drunk
publicly, took advantage of this opportunity of raising a con*
siderable tax on the licenses they granted for that purpose,
obliging each master of a coffee-house to pay a sequin per day,
limiting, however, the price at an asper a dish *.

Thus far the Arabian manuscript in the king of France's li-
brary, as translated by Mr. G aland ; who proceeds to inform
us of the occasion of a total suppression of public coffee-houses
during the war in Candia, when the Ottoman affairs were in a
critical situation.

The liberty which the politicians who frequented these houses
took, in speaking too freely of public affiurs, was carried to that
length, that the grand vizier Kupruli, father of the two famous
brothers of the same name, who afterwards succeeded him, sup-
pressed them all, during the minority of Mahomet the Fourth,
with a resolution hereditary in his family, without regarding
the loss of so considerable a revenue, of which he reaped the
advantage himself. Before he camsjp to that determination, he
visited, incognito, the several coffee-houses, where he observed
sensible grave persons discoursing seriously of the affairs of the
empire, blaming administration, and deciding with confidence on
the most important concerns. He had before been in the taverns,
where he only met with gay young fellows, mostly soldiers, who
were diverting themselves with singing, or talking of nothing
but gallantry and feats of war. These he took no further no-
tice of.

After the shutting up of the coffee-houses no less coffee was
drunk, for it was carried about in large copper vessels, with fire
under them, through the great streets and markets. This was
only done at Constantinople ; for in all other towns of the em-

* The Turkish sequin (according to Chambers) Is of the value of about
nine shillings sterling ; and the asper is a very small silver coin, of the value
of something more than an English halfpenny. The present value if nearly
seven shillings; that is, two shillings and threepence three-farthings for a
dollar, or eighty aspers ; consequently three aspers are worth something
more than a penny sterling, but they arc generally reckoned at a halfpenny
each. Two hundred and forty-three aspers go to a sequin.

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COFFEE TREE. 20$

pare, and even ia the smallest Tillages, the coffee-houses conti-
nued open as before*

Notwithstanding this precantioQ of suppressing the public
meetings at coffee-houses, the consumption of coffee increased ;
for there was no house or family, rich or poor, Turk or Jew,
Greek or Armenian, who are very numerous in that city, where
it was not drunk at least twice a day, and many people drank it
oftener, for it became a custom in every house to offer it to all
visitors, and it was reckoned an incivility to refuse it ; so that
many people drank twenty dishes a day, and that without any
inconvenience, which is supposed by this author an extraordi-
nary advantage : and another great use of coffee, according to
him, is its uniting mon in society in stricter ties of amity than
any other liquor ; and he observes, that such protestations of
friendship as are made at such times, are far more to be depended
upon than when the mind is intoxicated with inebriating liquors.
He computes that as much is spent in private families in the ar*
tide of coffee at Constantinople as in wine at Paris ; and relates
that it is customary there to ask for money to drink coffee, as
ia Europe for money to drink your health in wine or beer.

Another curious particular we find mentioned here is, that
the neglecting to supply a wife with coffee is reckoned among
the legal causes of a divorce.

The Turks drink their coffee very hot and strong, and without
sugar. Now and then they pnt in, when it is boiling, a clove
or two bruised, according to the quantity ; or a little of the
ttmen badian, called starry aniseed, or some of the lesser car-
damnms, or a drop of essence of amber.

It is not easy to determine at what time, or upon what occa-
sion, the use of coffee passed from Constantinople to the western
parts of Europe. It is however likely that the Venetians, upon
account of the proximity of their dominions, and their great trade
to the Levant, were the first acquainted with it ; which appears
from part of a letter written by Peter delia Valle, a Venetian, in
1615, from Constantinople, in which he tells his friend, that
upon his return he should bring with him some coffee, which he
believed was a thing unknown in his country.

Mr. Galand tells us he was informed by Mr. de la Croix, the
king's interpreter, that Mr. Thevenot, who had travelled through
the East, at his return in 1657, brought with him to Paris some
coffee for his own use, and often treated his friends with, it,

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f04 COFFEE T&EB*

amongst which number Mr. de la Croix was one ; and that fr
that time he had continued to drink it, being supplied by
Armenians who settled at Park, and by degrees brought it into
reputation in that city.

It was known some years sooner at Marseilles ; for in 1644
tome gentlemen, who accompanied Mr. de la Haye to Constan-
tinople, brought back with them on their return, not only some
coffee, but the proper vessels and apparatus for making and
drinking it, which were particularly magnificent, and xery de-
ferent from what are now used amongst i*s. However, until the
year 1660 coffee was drunk only by such as had been accustomed
to it in the Levant, and their friends : but that year some bales
were imported from Egypt, which gave a great number of per-
sons an opportunity of trying it, and contributed very much to
bringing it into general use ; and in 1671 certain private persons at
Marseilles determined for the first time to open a coffee-house in
the neighbourhood of the Exchange, which succeeded extremely
well : people met there to smoke, talk of business, and divert
themselves with play; it was soon crowded, particularly by the
Turkey merchants, and traders to the Levant. These places
were found very convenient for discoursing on, and settling mat.
ters relative to, commerce ; and shortly after the number of cof-
fee-houses increased amazingly: notwithstanding which there was .
not less drunk in private houses, but a much greater quantity, so
that it became universally in use at Marseilles and in the neigh*
bouring cities.

Before the year 1660 coffee had i«ot been seen at Paris, except
at Mr. Thevenot's, and some of his friends ; nor scarce heard
of but from the accouut of travellers. That year was distin-
guished by the arrival of Soliman Aga, ambassador from sultan
Mahomet the Fourth. This must be looked upon as the true
period of the introduction of coffee into Paris ; for that minister
and his retinue brought a considerable quantity with them, which
they presented to so many persons of the court and city, that
ntauy became accustomed to drink it, with the addition of a
little sugar ; and some, who had found benefit by it, did not
choose to be without it. The ambassador staid at Paris from
July 1669 to May 1670, which was a sufficient time to establish
the custom he had introduced.

Two years afterwards an Armenian, of the name of Pascal,
set up a coflbe-housc, but, meeting with little encouragement,

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COFFEE TfcBE. BOS

left Paris and came to London ; be was succeeded by oilier Ar-
menians and Persians, but not with much success, for want of
address and proper places to dispose of it, genteel people not
caring to be seen in those places where it was sold. However,
not long after, when some Frenchmen bad fitted np for the pur*
pose spacious apartments in an elegant manner, ornamented witfc
tapestry, large looking-glasses, pictures, and magnificent lustres,
and began to sell coffee, with tea, chocolate, and otter refresh-
ments, they soon became frequented by people of fashion and
men of letters, so that in a ihert time the number in Paris in*
creased to throe hundred.

For this account of the introduction of the use of coffee into
Paris, we are indebted to La Roque's Voyage into Arabia Felix.
We now come to trace its first appearance in London.

it appears from Anderson's Chronological Histery of Com*
merce, that the use of cofiee was introduced into London some
yean earlier than into Paris; for in 1659 one Mr. Edwards, a
Turkey merchant, brought home with him a Greek servant, whose
name was Pasqaa, who understood the roasting and making of
coffee, till then unknown in JCngtand. This servant was the
first who sold coffee, and kept a house for that purpose in
Goorge*yard, Lombard-street*

The first mention of coffee in out statute books is anno MK50
(12 Car. il. cap. 24. )> when a duty of fourpence was laid upon
every gallon of coffee made and aotd, to be paid by the maker.

The statute of the Id Car. U. cap. xi. § Ifi. ann, 16C3, di-
rects, that all coffee-houses should be licensed at the general
quarter sessions of the peace for the county within which they,
am to be kept*

In 1-675 king Charles issued a proclamation to shut up the
coffee-houses, but in a few days suspended that proclamation by
a second. They were charged with being seminaries of sedition ».

« <* This proclamation vyas issued about a month after the king had dined
with the corporation of London, at Guildhall, on their lord mayor's day
October 99, 10T5. At this feast the king afforded the citizens abundant
matter for animadversion, in which they indulged themselves so much to
-Mi dissatisfaction, and that of bis cabal ministry, that a proclamation
was issued, December 80, for shutting (up and suppressing all coffee-
houses ; * because in such houses, and by occasion of the meeting of disaf-
fected persons in them, divers false, malicious, and scandalous reports were
devised and read abroad, to the defamation of his majesty's government*

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•06 COFFEE TREE*

. The first European author who has made any mention of
coffee is Rauwolfius, who was in the Levant in 1573; bat the
first who has particularly described it is Prosper Alpinus, in his
History of the ^Egyptian Plants, published at Venice in 1501,
whose description we have in Parkinson's Theatre of Plants,
p. 1622, chap. Ixxix. as follows : —

Arbor Bon, cum jructu suo Buna, the Turks berry drink.
Alpinus, in his book of ^Egyptian plants, gives us the descrip-
tion of this tree, which he says he saw in the garden of a cap.
tain of the janissaries, which was brought out of Arabia Felix,
and there planted, as a rarity never seen growing in those places
before. The tree, saith Alpinus, is somewhat like the euony-
mus, or spindle-tree, but the leaves of it were thicker, harder,
and greener, and always abiding on the tree* The fruit is called
buna, and is somewhat bigger than a hazeUnut, and longer;
round also, and pointed at one end; furrowed likewise on both
sides, yet on one side more conspicuous than the other, that it
might be parted into two ; in each side whereof lieth a small ob-
long white kernel, flat on that side they join together, covered
with a yellowish skin, of an acid taste, and somewhat bitter,
and contained in a thin shell * of a darkish ash colour. With
these berries, in Arabia and iEgypt, and other parts of the
Turkish dominions, they generally make a decoction or drink,
which is in the stead of wine to them, and commonly sold in
their tap-houses or taverns, called by the name of coma. Palu-

and to (he disturbance of the quiet and peace of the realm.' The opinion!
of the judges were taken on this great point of stopping people's tongues ;
when they sagely resolved, * that retailing of coffee and tea night be an in*
nocent trade ; but as it was used to nourish sedition, spread lies, and scanda-
liie great men, it might also be a common nuisance.' On a petition of the
merchants and retailers of coffee and tea* permission was granted to keep
open the coffee-houses until the 24th of June following, under an admoni-
tion that the masters of them should prevent all scandalous papers, books,
and libels from being read in them, and hinder every person from declaring,
uttering, or divulging all manner of false and scandalous reports against
government, or the ministers thereof. Thus by a refinement of policy,
adds Noortbouck in his History of London, the simple manufacturer of a
dish of coffee or tea was constituted licenser of books, corrector of manners,
and arbiter of the truth or falsehood of political intelligence, over every
company he entertained !"

* This description is evidently taken from a dried berry, and not Cross
the ripe fruit.

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COfFEE TREE. 107

damns says choava, and RaawoJfius ckauke. This drink has
man j good physical properties : it strengthens a weak stomach,
helping digestion, and the tumours and obstructions of the titwr
and spleen, being drunk fasting for some time together* It is
held in great estimation among the ^Egyptian and Arabian wo*
men, in common feminine cases, in which they find it does them
eminent service.

Lord chancellor Bacon likewise makes mention of it in 1624:
He says, that the Turks have a drink called coffee, made with
boiling water, of a berry reduced into powder, which makes the
water as black as soot, and is of a pungent and aromatic smell,
and is drunk warm.

The celebrated John Ray, in his History of Plants, published
in 1690, speaking of it as a drink very much in use, says, that
this tree grows only within the tropics, and supposes that the
Arabs destroy the vegetable qualify of the seeds, in order to con*
fine among themselves the great share of wealth, which is brought
thither from the whole world for this commodity : from whence
he observes, that this part of Arabia might be truly styled the
most happy, and that it was almost incredible how many millions
of bushels were exported from thence into Turkey, Barbary, and
Europe. He says, he was astonished that one particular nation
should possess so great a treasure, and that within the narrow
limits of one province ; and that he wondered tbat the neigh,
bouring nations did not contrive to bring away some of the sound
seeds or living plants, in order to share in the advantages of so
lucrative a trade.

We now come to show by what means this valuable tree was
first introduced into Europe, and from thence into America.

The first account of this tree being brought into Europe we
have from Boerhaave, in his Index of the Leyden Garden,
part h\ p. 217, which is as follows: " Nicholas Witsen, burgo-
master of Amsterdam, and governor of the East India company,
by his letters often advised and desired Van Hoora, governor
of Batavia, to procure from Mocha, in Arabia Felix, some ber-
ries of the coffee tree, to be sown at Batavia ; which he having
accordingly done, and by that means, about the year 1690,
raised many plants from seeds, he sent one over to governor
Witsen, who immediately presented it to the garden at Amster-
dam, of which he was the founder and supporter : it there bore
fruit, which in a short time produced many young plants from

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Mft OOFFfiB TftE&

the seeds." Boerheave than concludes, that the talent of intra?
dadng this rare tree into Europe is doe to the care and liberality
of Witsen alone.

la the year 1714 ihe magistrates of Amsterdam, in order to
pay a particular compliment to Lewis XIV. king of France,
presented to him an elegant plant of this rare tree, carefully and
judiciously packed up to go by water, and defended from the
-weather by a curious machine covered with glass. The plant
was about fire feet high, and an inch in diameter in the stem,
and was in full foliage, with both green and ripe fruit. It was
viewed in the river, with great attention and curiosity, by se-
veral members of the Academy of Sciences, and was afterwards
conducted to the royal garden at Marly, under the care of
M. de Jussieu, the king's professor of botany, wfio had the
year before written a memoir, printed in die History of the
Academy of Sciences of Paris in the year 1713, describing the
characters of this genns, together with an elegant figure of it,
taken from a smaller plant, which he had received that year
from M. Paocras, burgomaster of Amsterdam, and director of
the botanical garden there.

In 1718 the Dutch colony at Surinam began first to plant
coffee ; and in 173d M. de la Motte Aigron, governor of Cay-
enne, having business at Surinam, contrived, by an artifice, to
bdng away a plant from thence, which in the year 1736 had
prodoeed many thousands.

In 1737 the French, perceiving that this acquisition might be
of great advantage in their other colonies, conveyed to Martinico
♦ome of the plants ; from whence it most probably spread to
the neighbouring islands ; for in she year 1733 it was cultivated
in Jamaica, and an act passed to encourage its growth in that
Island. Thus was laid the foundation of a most extensive and
beneficial trade to the European settlements in the West Indies.

An Account of the Culture of the Coffee Tree in Arabia Felix:
extracted from La Roque's Voyage.

He relates, that the coffee tree is there raised from seed, which
they sow in nurseries, and plant them out as they have occasion.
They choose for their plantations a moist, shady situation, op
-some eminence, or at the foot of the mountains, and tajce great
care to conduct from the mountains little rills of water, in small
gutters or channels, to the roots of the trees £ for it is absolutely

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fcO***E THfiE. S09

ftec&sarfr they Should be constantly watered, in order to produce
and ripen the fruit For that purpose, when thej remove or
transplant the tree* they make a trench three feet wide, and ftre
feet deep, Which they Rm* or coter Wifli stones, that the water may
file more readily sink deep til to the earth with which the trench
H filled, m order to preserve the molstnre from evaporating.
Whet* thty observe that there 2s a good deal 6f fruit upon the
tree, and that It te nearly ripe* they turn off the water from the
roots, to lessen that snccnlertcy in the fruit which too much
mdtst'are WouM occasfon.

Itr places much exposed to the soufn they plant their coffee
trees in regular lines, sheltered by a kind of poplar tree, which
extends its branches on every side to a great distance, and affords
a very thick shade. Without such precaution they suppose the
excessive heat of the sun would parch and dry the blossoms so
that they would not be succeeded by any fruit

In situations not so much exposed to the sun, this defence is
not necessary. When they perceive the fruit come to maturity,
they spread cloths under the trees, which they shake, and the
rtrrc fruit drops readily * ; they afterwards spread the berries
upon mats, and expose them to the sun until they are perfectly
dry ; after which they break the husk with large heavy rollers,
made either of wood or stone. When the coffee is thus cleared
df its husk it is again dried in the sun ; for, unless it is thoroughly
dried, there is danger of its heating on board the ship. It is
then winnowed with a large fan ; (ot if it is not well cleaned and
dried it sells for a much lower price.

The Maimer of preparing and drinking Coffto among the Arabian**
From the same Author..

Tie Arabians, when they take their coffee off the fire, imme-
diately wrap the vessel in a wet Cloth, which firtes the liquor in-
stantly, makes it cream at top, and occasions a more pungent

* Thii circumstance deserves the particular attention of the .West India
planter, who, I am told, is accustomed to gather his coffee as soon as it turns
red, before it changes to a dark red colour, and begins to shrivel ; whereas
the Arabians waft for those tokens which snow the full maturity of the
frvtt, Mr. Miller in his Dictionary mentions, that in some stoves in Eng-
land oofee is raised of a better quality than the best Mocha coffee Jhat can
be procured ia this country ; which may likewise be owing to gathering the
trait only wbea it is thoroughly ripe.

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910 COFFEE TREE,

steam, which they take great pleasure in snuffing up as the coffee
is pouring into the cups. They, like all other nations of the
East, drink their coffee without sugar.

People of the first fashion use nothing but sultana coffee,
which is prepared in the following manner : They bruise the
outward husk, or dried pulp, and put it into an iron or earthen
pau, which is placed upon a charcoal fire ; they then keep stir*
ring it to and fro until it becomes a little brown, but not of so
deep a colour as common coffee ; they then throw it into boiling
water, adding at least the fourth part of the inward husks^
which is then boiled all together in the manner of other coffee :
the colour of this liquor has some resemblance to the best English
beer. The husks roust be kept in a very dry place, and packed
up rery close, for the least humidity spoils the flavour. They
esteem the liquor prepared in this manner preferable to any
other. The French, when they were at the court of the king
of Yemen, saw no other coffee drunk, and they found the fla-
Tour of it yery delicate and agreeable ; there was no occasion to
use sugar, as it had no bitter taste to correct. In all probability
this sultana coffee can only be made where the tree grows ; for
as the husks hare little substance, if they are too much dried, in
order to send them to other countries, the agreeable flavour they
had when fresh is greatly impaired.

It may perhaps be worth while for our West India planters,
to make a trial of drying the outward and inner husk of coffee,
separately, in the manner the Chinese do their tea, upon a broad
shallow iron pan, turned upwards at the brim, placed upon a,
store. They should be kept continually turning, to prevent
burning ; and when they are become too hot to be handled, they
should be taken off with a kind of shovel, and laid upon a mat
on a low table, and shifted about until they cool, fanning them
at the same time to disperse the moisture. The pan must be
frequently wiped, and kept clean from any clammy matter stick-
ing to it, and the process repeated while any moisture is per*
ceived. They must afterwards be packed close in dry jars, ca-
nisters, or chests lined with lead, such as the tea is sent over in.
It will be proper to turn out these husks, after they have lain
some days, to examine whether they are thoroughly dry ; and if
the least damp is felt, it will be necessary to dry them still more,
otherwise they will become mouldy, and lose their flavour : for
it appears from the Arabian account thstf they are not acquainted

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COFFEE TREE* 811

wtth a proper method of drying these tanks, and peeking them
so es to be conveyed to any considerable distance, without prejn*
dicing this agreeable flavour. i

The Chinese are very careful not to leave their tea-leaves in
heaps before they are dried, which would occasion them to heat
and spoil : they likewise gather no more at a time than they can
dry in less than twenty-four hours, as they find, when they have,
been kept longer, they turn black. These observations may;
possibly be of some use. to those who may be induced to attempt;
drying the pulp of the berry for the purpose of making sultana:
coffee.

If the duties and excise upon coffee were lessened, the con*
sumption would be increased ; taste would grow more refined,,
the best would be sought for, and the price would be in propor-
tion. The present duties are almost prohibitory. , It may bet
worth one's while to view the effects of these high 4**ties in *•
political light— I mean in respect to this article* . , ,l

For a century to come, it is perhaps more than probable that-
the people of this country will, for one meal at least, make us%
of either tea, coffee, or chocolate; I speak of the generality*)
Tea at present takes the lead ; whence it comes, its history, p*o*[
perties, and uses, will J>e so fully explained, that I shall say no*i
thing here upon the subject*.

It b a question often proposed to physicians, Which is best,,
tea or coffee? The solution of this point would perhaps be a dinV
cult one. We neither find the Chinese or Turks subjected to any.
such discriminating effects, as enable the faculty to say, with prticW
sioo, that one is more injurious than the other. For my own part,,
I leare it to the experience of individuals. .To some people cof-,
fee is disagreeable; they charge it with producing nervous com-
plaints. Tea is not without similar accusations. It seems as if:
the human frame was, however, so happily constructed, that it j
is less in the power of such things to affect it than, might at first
sight be imagined. The animal powers are apparently such a*
can convert almost opposite principles to its benefit, if used iu>
any degree of moderation : some drink coffee almost to excess,)
and condemn tea as injurious; and so coffee is treated in its,

* See our account of the Tea Plant.
p2

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tit MvnM-nm

turn* Ttaft ato proof*, HeweVer, Bow fe^ people art capaoW
*# flMklflg prtfpet inferences from e*rjeriifterft.

I think neither coffee nor tea afford atiy very materia! support,
Oat ty eotrfain very Kttle ntitrimeflt: they are rathef the vchi-
ties of ae^risKment than nutritkm* or1 ttetasefv&t the mctet that
an bo fepetffed froft then* fti general ifr, that they are gtateful;
md mtf little injurious. Custoib has adopted them both J and
it become* til to make them as tisefirf to ourselves, and is *«!*»
fertient 16 public good, as ftiay toft lit our power. China, thai
JopplieB ti* wrth tea, is remote; the navigation long and dan-
gerous ; the climate not always favourable to our seamen : Irl-
deed, all leftg voyages are injurious, and the hotter the climate
the wftrse» As a nitkm, a commercial nation, whote acctftnmo-
daftfts depend on this useful race of people, ire cannot, ad
frtertda to humanity, wish to promote the consumption* of those
drtteles whiefc ire4 introduced at so great an expense of useful
lives. Coffee fro* ottr owrt plantations is hi this respect much
fJreferaW* to Uk ; the voyage is shorter, the rWk is less. Sop.
p*0i0& tiaeri, that tea and coffee are alike in respect to real use.
foitieft* ; that dne iff hot inferior to the othef hi respect to the
hetiNb of the ttontffltters : suppose, Bkewise, that the dfea^rati-
tage wW* respect to the lives of the seamen were equal, which
however is not the case, there is one material difference that
ought to tttrrf the ieale itt.fatbirr of the more general ttee of eof-
fee-^ifrfc raised by dtfr feHow.subje<eW, and paid for with our*
illJtftffaotftrei. Tda, on the contrary; te paid fbf prrhdpally
with mobeyi The ijtfttttity of British goods which the Chinese
take frowns is in^oflsideYflble' Wbert compared with the quantity
we payft* ill bullion.

The CfiitHtfe take froki lis every article which they can! turn
tb ftatfdntf benefit* attd whatever enables them to improve their
ilftrirtffaatortt. Besides raw tflk, and a fe\t otfrer articles of
sbWe Htlft «#b tit 6dr ow^'ittanttfactures, most other things rm-
ptfr&d'frttil tfcehce we eifr d* without, especially If tM con-
•utopden of dtir* coffee was encouraged. Were the duties and
e*cteeUpoSi eeffee, for rdstattce, reduced to a quarter part, tn6re
than dotfWe the <|uaritify wottfd be consumed : was the consump-
tion greater, the planters would find it their interest to cultivate
the trees with more attention : increased demand would increase
the price ; and as tbote Caibe to market, the best would sell dearer

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than nn inferior kind. These murf be Che certain *ffect» tffa-
creased demand.

There is another consideration of spme moment likewise j
which is, that the cultivation of coflfee might J>e carried on in
such manner as the lesser planters might subsist fey it, and a
few similar articles; cotton particularly, with little steely and
without much expense for ncgropa. No little planter cat} make
sugar to advantage ; the expense of negroes, cattle, mills, and
otfcer requisites of a sugar plantation, are beyond his reach r if
he has any landed property, by one peans pr another he M
often obliged to sell it to his richer pejgbbour, and to reinore
to some other country lesp unfavourable to contracted circirm-
stances. Thus the islands are gradually thinned of the white
inhabitants ; they bccoiae less able to nueil the insurrections of
their negroes, or to oppose any hostile invasion.

lessening the duty would increase the consumption, prevent
smuggling, enable many whiles to gain a comfortable support,
and to pay for our manufactures. As it is raised by our own
people, imported with less risk of seamen's health and lives, in
a political light it must certainly deserve the deliberate attention,
of the legislature*

How to make Coffee.

Fop* a pint #f boiling water on an ounce #f coffee ; let it boil
five or six minutes, then pour out a cupful two or three Mines,
and return it again ; pat two or three isinglass chips into it, or
a lamp or two of fine sugar ; boil it five minutes longer, set the
pot by the fire to keep hot for ten minutes, and you will have
your coiee of a beautiful clearness. Some like a smaM bit of
TOBiHa. Cream should always be serred with coffee, and either
pounded sugar-candy or fine Lisbon sugar. For foreigners, or
those who like it extremely strong, make only eight dishes from
three ounces. If not fresh roasted, Jay it before a fire till hot
and dry ; or put the smallest bit of fresh butter into a preserv-
ing-pan ; when hot throw the coffee into it, and toss it about
till it be freshened.

MEDICAL USE.
It say require a good deal of sagacity to determine hew far
flie Freneh custom of drinking coffee immediately after dinner
is right ; but I think it can admit of no dispute, whether a dish
of coffee or a bottle of wine may then be less prejudicial to
health.

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214 COFFEE TREE.

I think, however, it is less injurious to drink coffee imme.
diately after dinner than later in the evening; and at least for
one very obvious reason :

Cofiee most certainly promotes watchfulness; or, in other
words, it suspends the inclination to sleep. To those therefore
who wish not to be too subject to this inclination, coffee is un-
doubtedly preferable to wine, or perhaps to any other liquor we
know.

The instances of persons to whom coffee has this antisoporific
effect are very numerous, and the instances are almost as nume-
rous of such to whom wine has the opposite effect*

To attribute the liveliness of the French, after their repasts,
to this beverage, would be highly hypothetical : but I think it
must be acknowledged, that after a full meal, perhaps of gross
animal food, even a mere diluent is much preferable to wine ;
which, whilst it gives a temporary flow of animal spirits, rather
opposes that necessary assimilation which nature* aims at in the
offices of digestion.

' Was coffee substituted instead of the bottle immediately after
dinner, it seems more than probable that many advantages would
flow from it, both to the health of individuals, and general eeco-
nomy; and it seems not improbable that by deferring coffee or
tea so late as is usually practised, we interrupt digestion, and
add a new load of matter to that already in the stomach, which,
after a full meal, is not a matter of indifference.

Persons afflicted with asthma have found great relief, and even
a cure, by drinking very strong coffee, and those of a phlegmatic
habit would do well to take it for breakfast. It is rather of a
drying nature, and with corpulent habits it would be adviseabJe
to take it for breakfast.

Coffxi Mile.

Boil a dessert-spoonful of ground coffee in about a pinf of
milk a quarter of an hour ; then put into it a shaving or two of
isinglass, and clear it ; let it boil a few minutes, and set it on
the side of the fire to fine. This is a very fine breakfast, and
should be sweetened with real Lisbon sugar.

Those of a spare habit, and disposed towards affections of
the lungs, would do well to make this their breakfast.

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T E A.

T H E A.

Class V. Pcnlandria.
Bmejtt. Gejt. Char. Corolla six-
leaved: Capsule three- celled.
Sfec- Chak. Leaves elliptic-oblong.

Order I. Monogynia.
or Dine-petalled : Calyx five- or bIx-

DESCRIPTION.

It is generally believed, although there are many varieties, that
the tea is bat of one species, and that the differences are the pro-
duction of soil, climate, and a particular mode of preparation.
The two obvious distinctions of green and black teas naturally
suggested the idea that there were two distinct species of this
plant; and I believe it was sir John Hill who first attempted at
the distinction, remarking that the green tea (Thea viridis) had
six petals, whereas the black tea {Thea bohea) has nine; and it
must be allowed that the two plants differ greatly in the forma-

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216 TEA THEE,

tioa of the leaves, obvious even t# the most inattentive observer.
The green tea plant has leaves of a larger size than the other, eU
liptic, sharp-pointed ; whereas tfa£ black is a perfect oval, rounder
at the apex, and the first is of an apple-green colour, whereat
the black is of a dark olive ; the former has a very wrinkled leaf,
the latter perfectly smooth : the textures also 4i|fer ; the green
has a much looser texture, hence the one is somewhat trans pa,
rent, the other opake : the green spreads out, waving like the
leaves of corn, and distant, whereas the black are numerous,
stiff, and pressed close to the stem: the edges also differ ; the
green is unequally toothed, t&tk large, it may be said to be
jagged; the black is simply serrated, the teeth even, and minuter
No two plants, therefore, can be more readily discriminated than
the black and green, although the fructification so greatly re-
sembles in both that these arc usually not to be distinguished ;
for the number of petals in both kinds is very subject to vary.
The leaf of the bohca tea, by the firmness of its texture, ap-
proaches very near to the Japan rose (Camellia Japonica), only
these are half the size; And it seems closely allied to this plant,
90 that gardeners also notice this resemblance: and it is curious
that the early plants imported to Europe as the true tree, sold
by the Chinese, were actually the Camellia Japonicq * ; and I
thinjc it more than probable that the leaves of this plant are used
with the green tea, which may render that kind of tea so stimu-
lating 3 and it is allowed on all hands that this plant is inter-
mixed with the green tea, and may produce much pernicious
effect upon some peculiar habits. But I mention this only as
my own imperfect conjecture ; for, swayed by the general, and
now universally received, opinion +, I am not indeed allowed to

* Linnaeus endeavoured for several years to procure the tea tree for
the botanic garden at Upsal, but by a variety of accidents they were all
destroyed on the passage. At length, in the year 1755, Lagerstroem, a dU
rector of the Swedish East India company, brought hint two plants, whieJi
be himself obtained in China ; bat they proved to be the oamejjia, ''it*
crafty Chinese,*' says professor ifartyo," having plucked away tjie fowetV
In 1769 Linnaeus received another plant from France » but that also proved
to be the camellia, which is now common enough in our green- houses, as
being a very ornamental plant. But in October 1763 Linnaeus first received
tbe true tea plant from Gustavtis Ekeberg, captain of a Swedish Indianan,
who raised if from seed on the voyage. The first that flowered in Eaglaad
was at Sion, the seat of the 4ufce of Northumbcrlaa{l.~Afartyn.

v Professor Marty n. Dr. Lettsom, Pes Fontaines, $C;f wU^ all the tf*>

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TEA TREE. f 17

consider the black and green tea (Thea nigrm el vkidis) a* form*
jng distinct teas of themselves.

The following is the description usually gh^n o( the tea free,
without attending in the leapt to the two hinds discriminated bjr
Unnaeus.

Tea is a branchy erergreeq shruh, which, aceprdkpg to
Kempfer and Tbunberg, grows to the height of fo#r ojt fry* feet,
though other travellers assert that it rises sometimes to thirty.

Its leaves are alternate, ha*d, o?aJ, or elliptic ; of a sotne-
what sbWn& green colour, entire near the baae, bat serrated
in the rest of their length, and supported Vfl a short and half*
cyliodric footstalk* The buds are acute, and accompanied with
* husk; which detacbes itself, and drops off at the period of it#
development*

The flowers grow singly, or sometimes, but jnpre rarely, twor
and-two, in the eyes of the learns, on short and somewhat thick
pedicles.
The calyx is small, persistent, and hap five obtuse divisions.
The corolla, for the most part, has si* white petals, wnd
and open : the two exterior ones are sipajler and wnequaU Its
breadth p about thp thud of an iach.

The stamina, which are rooee than two hundred in number,
are shorter than the corolla, and attached Wider the germea.
Each anther has two cells.

The germen, which is of a rounded triangular form, and
surmounted by a style divided into three filiform stigmata, be-
comes a capsule with three round monospermous cells united at
the hase, and opening longitudinally on one side only*

▼ellcrs into China, are agreed, that there is no ju>t distinction into the two
species here attempted to be formed; yet, if any one will take the pains
to examine the green and black teas imported, the distinctions of the leaves
of the two kinds here given may be noticed, and the greater thinness and
length, &c. of the green leaf will be readily observed. Is is said that, the
green tea being once in fashion in England, the East India company wished
to have chiefly this sort, and U was returned in answer by the Chinese, "that
to extirpate their bohea tea trees, and plant in their room green tea trees,
would take op several years to accomplish 9 nor ha^ they, at that time, green
tea enough to supply our market/' Hence, persons were engaged to write
down the green tea, and turn the tide of public opinion in favour of the
black tea, which is qow almost universally drunk in £n£land> or mixe4
with only a sprinkling of green.

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SIS TEA THEE.

' The seeds are spherical, internally angular, of a rather large
sipe, coTered with a thin shining pellicle, a little hard, and of a
maroon colour. The kernel is oily, and of a bitter and dis-
agreeable taste, which produces salivation, and even occasions
nausea.

1 It is cultivated every where, from Canton to Pekin ; where the
winter, according to the observations of the missionaries, is more
severe than at Paris. It would, no doubt, be possible, says the
learned Des Fontaines, to propagate this valuable plant in France,
if one could procure a sufficient number of individuals to make
experiments, by cultivating it in different soils and under different
climates. This object deserves the attention of government, as
the consumption of tea is immense, and as the quantity imported
every year amounts to a considerable sum, for which Europe is
rendered tributary to China. The tea seeds brought to us from
that country become rancid, and spoil at sea ; so that scarcely
one of a thousand produces plants. It would therefore be ne-
cessary that persons who go to China should procure them ex.
ceedingly fresh, and take care to sow them, before they sail, in
boxes filled with light earth : they would then spring up on the
passage. Nothing would be necessary but to water them from
time to time, and to preserve them from the sea water : the
young plants might then arrive in safety.
These are the chief distinctions of teas in Europe :

Greek Teas.

1. Bhtgy (so called from the man who first made that tea,) im-
perial, or bloom tea, with a large loose leaf, of a light green
colour, and a faint delicate smell. The leaves are not rolled *.

2. Hy-tiarm, hikumg, hayssuen, or Ajv-dttcn— -known to us by
the name of hyson tea +, named from an Indian merchant, who

* The bing grows four days' journey from the hyson country. The leaves
are long and thin, those of tinglo short and thick. — Asiatic Researches.

t Of hyson there are two gatherings, and each gathering Is distinguished
into two or more sorts ; but as great care is taken in gathering it, 60 catties
(a catty is 21 ounces and a third, or three catties are four pounds) from one
pecul, when only 46 catties can be chosen from the singlo.

Hyson-skin, as it is called, has its name from being compared to the skin
or peel to the hyson tea, a sort of cover to it, and consequently not so good*
It consisti of the largest leaves, flat, unhandsome, bad coloured. This Is
called in London bloom tea.

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TEA TREE. 819

first sold tea to an European, his tea being asked for ever after.
The leaves are closely curled and small, of a green colour verg.
tag towards blue. Another hyson tea, with narrow short leaves,
is called hyson-utchin. There is also a green tea named gob£9
with long narrow leaves, strongly rolled.

3. Song-lo or Singlo, "which name it receives, like several
others, from the place where it is cultivated *•

Bohea Teas.

1. Soo-chuen, sut-chong, sou-chemg, or su-ckong, called by the
Chinese saa-tyang, and saet-chaon or sy-tyann, is a superior kind
of cong-fou tea. It imparts a yellowish green colour by infu.
sion, and has its name from a place or province in China +.

Goto, g§wU9 and otto**, are mho leaves picked from the hyson leaves.
Those called §omi are small, and very much twitted, so that they appear
like bits of wire. The oot$een are more like little balls. — Asiatic Re*
searches.

* Tunkcg singlo tea is the best, which is owiog to the soil : it grows near
the hyson country. Ordinary singlo tea is neither so often tatcbed (tatch-
ing is drying in a flat iron pan heated), or picked, as the above.

Singlo and hyson teas are cared in the following manner: When the
leaves are gathered, they are directly tatched, and then very much rubbed
by men's hands to roll them, after which they are spread to divide them,
for the leaves in rolling are apt to stick together j they are then tatched
very dry, and afterwards spread on tables to be picked ; this is done by
girls or women, who, according to their skill, can pick' from one to four
catties each day. Then they are tatched again, and afterwards again, and
after that tossed in flat baskets to clear them from dost ; they are then again
spread on tables and picked, and then tatched for a fourth time, and laid
in parcels, which parcels are again tatched by ten catties at a time, and
when done pnt hot into baskets for tike purpose, where they are kept till it
salts the owner to pack them in chests or tabs, before which the tea is again
tatched, and then pnt hot into the chests or tubs, and pressed in them by
hand. When the tea is hot it does not break, which it is apt to do when
It is eoW. Singlo tea being more dnsty than hyson tea, it is twice tossed
in baskets, hyson only once.

It appears that it is necessary to tatch these teas whenever they contract
any moisture ; so that if the seller is obliged to keep his tea any time, espe-
cially in damp weather, he must tatch it to give it a crispness before he
can sell it.

It is to be observed, that the quantity of leaves tatched increases with
the times of tatching; at first only half or three quarters of a catty of leaves
are pat into the tatcbes.— Asiatic Researches.

t Souchong is made from the leaves of trees three years old, and where

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$80 TEA JR£pr

Pgdre-spuckovg, called so because the priesi* drink it, has a
finer taste anjl smell. The Laares are large and yellowish, not '
rolled njj, and packed in paper* of half a pound a*ch. It is
generally conveyed by caravans into Russia. Without much
care it will be injured at pea. It is rarely to be met with in
England.

2. Cam-ho or Swm-lo, called after the name of the place
where it is gathered. A fragrant tea, with a violet smell. Its
infusion is pale.

3. Con$o-fou} cQtigo or hongq-fqf This has a larger leaf than
the following, and the infusion is a little deeper coloured. It
resembles the common bohea in the colour of the leaf*.

There is a sort called lin-kisam, with narrow rough leaves*
It "is seldom used alone, but mixed with other kinds : by adding
it to congo, the Chinese sometimes make a kind of pekoe teat.

4. Pehoo, pecko, or pihoe, by the Chinese called bach+ko or
pack-he. It is knowa by having the appearance of small white
flowers intermixed with it J.

the toil is very good : of older, when qot so gppfi, coagp it made. The
leaves pf older trees make bobea. The tea trees last many years. When tea
free* grow old and die, that if, when the bodies of the trees fail, the roots
produce new sprouts, which make p«ko. — Asiatic Researches.

* CQnge, says Chew-Qua, a Chinese, is tatched twice, as is seucseajri
but Youngshaw says, souchong and conge are Dpi ta*che4, but only fired
two or three times. The latter is moat probable, but yet the former may
be true ; for as tabbing seems to give the, green colour to the leaves of the
tea trees, so we may observe something of that greenness in tkt leave* of
congo and souchong teas. Youngshaw further says, that the leaves of ton*
choog, congo, hyson, and fine singlo trees, are beat with ia* stick* or ham?
boos, after they have been withered by the sen or air, and have aconites!
toughness enough to keep them from breaking, to force out of Jhem a saw
or harsh smtl).— Asiatic Researches.

t Lintwin seems to be made from very yonng leaves roJJrs} tip, and
stalks of the tree : the leaves are gathered before they are fall blown. This
tea is never tatched, but only fired. Were the leaves sneered to jproaig en
the trees until they were bio we, they might be cured as «•** t ifloager,
as pongo and bohea. This ten it in no esteem wife the Chinese yh is only
cured to please the sight ; the leaves are gathered too yonng to ha*c any
flavour. — Asiatic Researches.

{ JPcta, a tea which we Import for Sweden aju) Peamarfc, is pane from
the leaves of trees three years old, and from the teudercst of fJteB»,natner*d
just after they have been in bloom, when the smail leaves ton* gnaw **r
fween the two first that have an»care4,an<l which nlfcgeil^nMfte a sprig,

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TEA TltEt, S8l

6. Cotamorj bohea, tit black tea, dtlfetf tfofi or md-tt by the
Chinese, consists of leaves of one colour, a brdwhish gfeen +•

are downy and white, and resemble young hair or down. Trees of four*,
five, and six years old may stilt make pefcO; But after thrft they degenerate
into bobea if they grow on the pfaitis, and Into Conge if tney grow oil the
UIIa>— -Asiatic Researches.

* Chow-qoa says, that bobea may be cured as hyson, and hyson as bo-
hejt, and so of all other sorts ; but that experience has shown, the teas are
best cured as suits the qualities they have from the soils where they grow ;
$o that bohea will make bad fifyson, and hyson, though very dear Tri the
country where it grows, bad bohea. However, in the province of Tokyen,
which is called the Bohea province, there has lately been some tea made
after the hyson manner, which has been sold at Canton as such.

The bohea country, in the province of Tokyen, is very hilly, and since
some years greatly enlarged ; the length of it is four dr five days9 journey,
or as much again as it formerly was. The extent of the soil that produces
the best bohea tea is not more than 40 li, or aboot 1$ miles ; in circum-
ference it is from 100 to 120 li. Not only the hills in this country are
planted with tea trees, but the valleys also ; the hills, however, are reckoned
to produce the best tea ; on them grow congo, peko, and souchong ; id the
valleys or flat parts of the country, bohea. As to the true souchong, the
whole place does not yield three peculs ; Toungshaw says not more than
three catties. The value of it on the spot is 1§ or two tales the catty, about
ten or twelve shillings the pound. "Vthat is sold to Europeans for souchong
is only the first sort of congo, and the congo they buy is only the first sort
of bohea. Upon a hill planted with tea trees, one only shall produce leaves
good enough to fie called souchong, and of those only tbl best and yoiffigcst
are taken ; the others make congo of the several sorts, arid bohga.

There are four or five gatherings of bohea tea in the year, according to
the demand there is for it ; but three, or at m6st four gatherings are reckoned
proper ; the others only hurt the next year's crop. Of souchong there can
be but one gathering, viz. of the first and youngest leaves ; all others' make
inferior tea.

The first gathering is called tow-tchuue, the second eurt, or gcc-tcfoiur>
y(kt third sun-tcAuu*. If the first leaves are not gathered tney grow large
and rank, and are not supplied by the second leaves, which only come lit
their room or place, and so on.

The first gathering is reckoned fat or oily, the second less so, the third
hardly at alt so, yet the leaves IojAc young. The first gathering is from
about the middle of April to the end of May ; the second from aboot the
middle of June to the middle of July; the third from about the beginning
of August to the latter end of September. Tea is never gathered in winter.
The first gathering or leaf, when brought to Canton, commonly stands the
Merchants in

11$ tales (a talt is six shillings and eightpence) the pecul.
the 2d 11 or less,
the 3d 9

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8SS TEA TABS.

The best is named tao+iyoKn. An inferior kind is called A*~kaL)
from a place of that name.

Besides these, tea, both bohea and green, is sometimes im-
ported in balls, from two ounces to the size of a nutmeg and of
peas. The Chinese call it pencuUtcha. The smallest in this form
is well known under the name of gunpowder tea*.

The method of caring bohea tea of these three growths is, according to
Chowqua, thus:

When the leaves are gathered they are put into large flat baskets to dry,
and these are pat on shelves or planks, in the air or wind, or in the son, if
not too intense, from morning until noon, at which time the leaves begin
to throw out a smell ; then they are tatched. This is done by throwing each
time about half a catty of leaves into the tatche, and stirring them quick
with the hand twice, the tatche being very hot, and then taking them out
with a small short broom, if the hand is not sufficient. When taken out,
the leaves are again pat into the large flat baskets, and there robbed by
men's bands to roll them ; after which they are tatched in larger quantities,
and over a cooler or slower fire, and then pat into baskets over a charcoal
fire, as is practised on some occasions at Canton. When the tea is fired
enough, which a person of skill directs, it is spread on a table, and picked
and separated from the too large leaves, yellow leaves, unrolled, broken,
or bad leaves.

Youngshaw says bohea tea is gathered, sunned in baskets, rolled with the
hand, and then tatched ; which completes it.

Another says it Is gathered, then put in sieves or baskets, about a catty in
each, and these are put in the air till the leaves wither or give, after which
they are put into a close place out of the air, to prevent their growing red,*
until the evening, or for some hours : the smell then comes out of them. They
are after this tatched a little, then rolled, and then tatched again j and
about half a catty is tatched at one time. — Asiatic Researches.
* There are also other teas.

Ho-ping tea is so called from the country where it grows, which is twelve
easy days* journey from Canton. This tea is cared after the manner of bo*
hea, only in a more careless or slovenly way, on account of its little value,
and with wood instead of charcoal fire, which is not so proper, and adds
to the naturally bad smell the tea has from the soil where it grows.

Leoo-ching or (Lootsia), the name of a place eight days* journey from
Canton: it may produce about 1000 p^culs of tea in a year. This tea is
cured as bohea, or as green, as the market requires, but is most commonly
made to imitate singlo, which suits it best.

Honan tea grows opposite to Canton ; it is cared in April or May for the
Canton market, that is, for the use of the inhabitants of Canton, especially
the women, and not for foreigners. There is but little of it, about 200
peculs. The worst sort of it remains flat, and looks yellow : it is tatched"
once to dry it, but not rolled, and is worth three candarines the catty. The
best sort is tatched once, and rolled with the hand, and tatched again ; it is

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TEA TREE. 223

•The manner of gathering and preparing the leaves, at practised
in Japan, is fully described by Kempfer, an author on whom we
may safely depend ; and, as far as our information reaches, hit
account is in great measure the method used by the Chinese.

The leaves are gathered carefully one by one, and each person,
is able thus to collect from four to ten or fifteen pounds in one
day. The first gathering commences about the end of our Fe-
bruary or beginning of March, when the leaves are young and
tender : they are called field tsjaa, or powdered tea, because
they are pulverised and sipped in hot water : they are disposed
of to princes and rich people only ; and hence this kind is called
imperial tea.

A similar sort is called udsi tgaa, and tacks sacki tsjaa, from
the place where it grows. Peculiar care and nicety are observed
in gathering these leaves.

The second collection is made at the end of March or begin-
ning of April. This is called tootgaa, or Chinese tea, because
it is infused and drunk after the Chinese manner.

The third gathering is made in June, when the leaves are full

worth twelve candarines the catty. These teas are not, like the bohea,
after they are tatched pat over a charcoal fire. Hie water 6t Hooaa tea in
reddish.

Ank*y tea it so called from the country that prodaees it, which is about
twenty- four days' journey from Canton. When gathered the leaves are put
into flat baskets to dry like the bobea ; they are then tatched, and after-
wards tubbed with hands and feet to roll them, then pot in the sun to dry,
aad sold for three' or four candariBes the catty. If this tea is intended for1
Europeans it is packed in large baskets, like bobea baskets, and those are
heated by a charcoal fire ia a hot-house, as is often practised in Canton.-
Bobea tea is sometimes sent to Ankoy, to be there mixed with that country
tea, and then forwarded to Canton.

The worst sort of Ankoy is not tatched ; but Ankoy congo, as it is called,
is cared wtth care, like good bohea or congo : this sort is generally packed
ia ssaoil chests, There is also Aakoy-peka ; bat the smell of all these teas
is aMch inferior to those of the Bohea country. However, Ankoycongo
of the first sort b generally dearer at Canton than the inferior growths of
bohea.

As tatching the tea makes it sweat, as the Chinese term it, or throw out
an oil, the t ate be in time becomes dirty, and must be washed.

If bohea b tatched only twice, It will be reckoned slovenly cured, and
the water of the tea will not be green, but yellow ; so that fine bobea tea
mast be cored as covgo; the coarse is not so much regarded. — Asiatic Re-
searches.

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S24 TEA tREfi.

growrt. Thfe U called1 few £$kj ; it h the tfoarsest, add Is chiefly
consumed by the lower class of people. By Sorting these, se*
fetal other varieties arc produced.

The rtiost esteemed tea of Japan, according to Kempfer, grow*
in the environs of the sttali towfr of Udsi, situated in the neigh-
bourhood of the sea. In that district is a celebrated mountain,
whkh k entirely employed fat the cultivation of that used by
the* emperor. This mountain, which has a beautiful and pic*
turesqne appearance, is surroltttdW by a broad ditch, to present
inen and animals from having any access to it. The plantations
sjfe laid ont by the Rfce, arranged in a manner exceedingly agreea-
ble to the eye, and the shrubs are washed and cleaned every day.
While Mto leaves are collecting* the Men employed in that opera-
lion' bathe two or three times evefy day, and Wear glotes whert
they pick the leaves, to prevent them from being dirtied. When:
the leaves have been tortfned* and property prepared, they are
Shut np in teasels of great vtttae, and conveyed with much pomp
to the emperor's palace.

The -Japanese ascribe to tea a miraculous origin. Darma, a
very religious prince, and third son of an Indian king, named
Kosjusvo, landed in China* they say, in the year 510 of the
Chrkfaaa sera. He employed aU kk care and thought to diffusa
throughout the country a knowledge of God and religion ; and,
being desirous to excite men by his example, imposed on himself
privations and mortifications of every kind ; living in the open
air, and devoting the days and nights to prayer and contempla-
tion. After soveral years* however, being worn out with fa*
tigue, hd fell asleep again* his WHI; and that be fufekt fifth-
ffrfly observe his **th, vHiieb he thought he bad violated, he cut
off his eye-lids and threw tfrein on the ground. Vfett day, hav-
ing returned to the same spot, he found them changed into a shrub
which the earth had never before produced. Having eaten some
of the leaves of it* he found bit spirits e*Wl*rated> and his forme*
vigour restored* He reco*vmeao>4 this aliftnetft to his disdpica
and followers. The reputation of tea increased* and aftet that
time it continued to be generally used. Kempfer, in his Amoe*
nitales exotictB, gives the life with a portrait of this saint, so ce-
lebrated kt Chtoa and Japau. There is seen, at the feet of -Dar-
in*, a reed, which indicates that ho had traversed the seas and
rivers.

Whether the Chinese collect the tea precisely at the same sea-

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TEA TREE. t23

sons as in 7apari, w£ are not well informed ; but most probably
the tea harvest is nearly at the same periods, the natives baring
frequent intercourse, and their commercial concerns with each
other being very extensive.

The tea leaves should be dried as soon as possible after they
are gathered. For this purpose public buildings are erected,
containing from foe to ten, and even twenty, small furnaces,
about three feet high, each having at the top a large iron pan.
There is also a long table covered with mats, on which the leaves
are Jaid, and rolled by women who sit round it. The iron pan
being heated to a certain degree by a fire made in the furnace
beneath, a few pounds of the leaves are put upon the pan, and
frequently turned and shifted by the hands till they become too
hot to be endured ; they are then thrown upon the mats to be
rolled between the palms of the hands ; after which they are
cooled as speedily as possible. In order that all the moisture
of the leaves may be completely dissipated, and their twisted
form be better preserved, the above process is repeated several
times with the same leaves, but less heat is employed than at
first. The tea thus manufactured is afterwards sorted according
Co its kind or goodness. Some of the young tender leaves are
never rolled, and these are immersed in hot water before they
are dried.

After the tea has been kept for some months, it is taken out
of the vessels in which it was stored, and dried again over a very
gentle fire, that it may be deprived of any humidity which re-
mained, or it might have since contracted.

The common tea is kept in earthen pots with narrow months;
but the best sort, used by the emperor and nobility, is put into
porcelane or china vessels. The coarsest tea is kept by the
country people in straw baskets, made in the shape of barrels,
which they place under the roofs of their houses, near the hole
that lets out the smoke*.

Thunberg declares, that the older the leaves are, and the later
m the season they are gathered, the greater is the abundance;
but then the tea is so much the worse : the smaller leaves, and
those which have just fehot forth, furnish the finest and most va-
luable. Young shrubs always yield better tea than old ones ;

• Kenpf. «Bcen. & Jap. Ttmnb. Jap. Woodv. Letts. W— 35.

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386 TEA TREK.

and soma placet produce it iii greater perfection and more de-
licious than others*.

According to the accurate account of sir George Staunton,
the largest and oldest leaves, which are the least esteemed, and
destined for the use of the lowest classes of the people, are often
exposed to sale with little previous manipulation, and still re*
taining that kind of vegetable taste which is common to most
fresh plants, but which vanishes in a little time, whilst the more
essential flavour, characteristic of each particular vegetable, re-
mains long without diminution. But the young leaves undergo,
no inconsiderable preparation before they are delivered to the
purchaser : every leaf passes through the fingers of a female,
who rolls U up almost to the form it had assumed before it be-
came expanded in the progress of its growth. It is afterwards
placed upon thin plates of earthen-ware or iron, made much
thinner than is executed by artists out of China. It is confi-
dently said in the country, that no plates of copper + are ever
employed for that purpose. Indeed, scarcely any utensil used
in China is of that metal, the chief application of which is for
coin. The earthen or iron plates are placed over a charcoal
fire, which draws all remaining moisture from the leaves, ren-
dering them dry and crisp. The colour and astringency of green
tea is derived from the early period at which the leaves are,
plucked, and which, like unripe fruit, are generally green and
acrid. For exportation, the tea, as is well known, is packed

♦ Trawls, vol. iv. p. 42,43, Engl. edit.

+ This is a prevailing prejudice ; and green tea is vulgarly supposed to
acquire Us colour by means of verdigris, as some pickles have their colour
heightened by putting into the vinegar a copper halfpenny. But Kempier
positively says, that the tea is terrified on plates of iron. The writer of Lord
Macartney's Voyage asserts the same thing ; nor could 1 discover the smallest
quantity of copper, which is easily detected by means of chemistry. Pigou,
who writes on the tea tree in the Asiatic Annual Register, says, the Chi-
nese all agree there Is but one sort or species of the tea tree ; and that the
difference in tea arises from the soil and manner of curing. As the mak k
cither brown, producing our porter, or pale, forming our amber-coloured
ale, from the manner of drying, so the tea is supposed to be made brown
by a quick heat, and the green is produced by a slack heat, and more
careful drying, which in consequence is obliged to be often er repeated, the
black teas being dried but twice, and the green as often as six or seven
times. Some doubts about the two kinds of shrubs, or tea trees, making
the distinctions, likewise are detailed in other places of this long article.

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ffeA f M*k SSft

in latfge chests lifted with very thin plates of lead} and it i*
pressed down into these chests by the naked feet of Chinese la-
bourers*.

Chinese drawings, though somewhat rtfdety executed, exhibit
a faithful picture of whit thty are Intended to represent. Prom
a set of these, giving the whole process of gathering and manu-
facturing the tree, we learn that the tree, dr rather shrub, growd
for the most part in hilly countries, often on their rocky 4um^
torts and steep declivities* Accordingly, sir George Staunton
informs ns, that trait tracts of hilly fetid are pfafttgd with it*
particularly In the province of fVcheft : arid chevalier Thrni^
berg says, that he met with it frequently in Japan, both eft the4
borders of cultivated lands, and upon such mountains and down*
as did not well answer the trouble of cfcltivdttori. It appears
afeo from these drawings that the Shrubs are not much taller*
than a man's middle : the gatherers are never represented climb*
big, they sometimes make use of hooked stfcks, but these seen!
rather intended to draw the branches towards them, when the^
haog over places diflkaK of access* They pick the leaves first
hi a basket, which are soon after gathered into different sorts^
and cured by drying them in iron kettles placed upon a range
of stoves, Eke those in a chemist's laboratory, after Which the*
women chiefly work, and curl the leaves one by one* They
Kkewise dry it by spreading it abroad in shallow baskets in the
son ; and, by means of sieves, separate the larger from the
smaller leaves, and these again from the dust The tea te fhett
packed up in chests for the market

The Chinese put the finer kinds of tea into conic vessels, ftke
sugar loaves, made of tutanag, tin, or lead, Covering them with
a neat packing of bamboo* The common tea is put hito bas*
kets, out of which it is emptied, and packed in boxes or chests^
as soon as it is sold to the Europeans +.

It is not known what arts are used in Chhva to give a variety
of colour and flavour to their teas, which cannot all be satis-
factorily accounted for from soil, situation, and the different
seasons at which the leaves are gathered. In Japan the produce

• Embassy, toI. ii. p. 465. The practice of employing iron or earthen
plates to dry the tea upon Is, perhaps, a mistake, as the process k called
latching, and a tatche-asactly resembles oar pitch kettle*

t Lettsom, p. 86.

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928 TEA TREE.

is chiefly consumed within the country ; whereas in China, the
exportation we know is very considerable, and the temptation
great to exercise the arts of sophistication, in which it is noto-
rious the Chinese are not deficient

In the Chinese drawings above mentioned, there are figures
of several persons apparently separating the different kinds of
tea, and drying it in the sun, with several baskets standing near
them filled with a white substance, and in considerable quantity.
To what use this may be applied is uncertain, as well as what
the substance is ; yet there is little doubt that it is used in the
manufacture of tea, because the Chinese do not introduce any
thing into their pieces, but what relates in some respect to the
subject

We are better acquainted with a vegetable substance which is
employed in giving a flavour to tea. This is the Olea Jra*
grans, the flowers of which are frequently to be met with in teas
exported from China. The plant itself is now not unfrequent
in our stoves*.

The flowers also of the Camellia Sesanqua and of the Arabia*
Jasmin are sometimes mixed among the teas, for the same purpose
of increasing their fragrance. The Chinese call the former Cha-
whaw, or flower of tea. It b cultivated in vast abundance in
China, not so much for this purpose, as for its nut, which yields
an esculent oil, equal to the best which comes from Florence. The
tea plant is particularly valuable from the facility of its culture
on the sides and very tops of mountains, in situations fit for
little else +.

We are not certain what motive induced the natives of China
and Japan first to use an infusion of tea ; but it is highly pro.
bable that it was in order to correct the water, which is said to
be brackish and ill-tasted in many parts of those countries J.

Sir George Staunton says, that persons of rank in China are
so careful about the quality of the water intended for their own
consumption, that they seldom drink any without its being di-
stilled ; and every Chinese infuses tea or some other vegetable
supposed to be salubrious, in the water which he uses. Like
beer in England, teals sold in public-houses in every town ; also
|>y the side of public roads, and on the banks of rivers and ca-

• Lettsom, p. 43. + Staunton's Embafcy, vol. li« p. 467.

% LeUton, p. 19.

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TBA TREE. 229

mis, both in China and Japan ; nor is it unusual for the bur-
thened and wearied traveller to lay down his load, refresh him-
self with a cup of warm tea, and then pursue his journey*.

These qualities of taking off the ill taste of water, and refresh,
rug after fatigue, hare been experienced in other countries besides
China and Japan. Thus Kalm says, " If tea be useful, it must
be so in travelling through a desert country, where wine or other
liquors cannot conveniently be carried, and where the water
is generally unfit for use, as being full of insects. In such cases
it is ?ery pleasant when boiled, and tea is infused in it ; nay, I
cannot sufficiently describe the fine taste it has in such circum-
stances. It relieves a weary traveller more than can be imagined,
as I have experienced with many others who have travelled
through the forests of America : on such journeys tea is found
to be almost as necessary as victuals." Forster, the translator,
adds, that on his travels through the desert plains beyond the
river Volga, he has had several opportunities of making the
same observations on tea, and that every traveller in the same
circumstances .will readily allow them to be very just +. Captain
Forrest, in his Voyage to New Guinea, relates several instances,
wherein the sailors experienced the exhilarating effects of this in*
fusion +. Other travellers have borne testimony to this pleasant
. and salutary effect of tea. And persons, after violent exercise,
or coming off a journey much fatigued, and affected with a sense
of general uneasiness, attended with thirst and great heat, by
drinking a few cups of warm tea commonly experience imme-
diate refreshment.

Neither the Chinese, nor the natives of Japan, ever nse tea
before it has been kept at least a year ; because when fresh it is
said to prove narcotic, and to disorder the senses. The Chinese
pour hot water on the ten, and draw off the infusion in the same
manner as is now practised in Europe ; but they drink it with-
out sugar or milk. The Japanese reduce the tea to a fine pow-
der, by grinding the leaves in a hand-mill ; the cups are filled
with hot water, and as much of this powder as might lie on the
point of a moderate* sized knife is put into each cup, and stirred
about till the liquor foams, and it is sipped while warm. Ac-

• Embaay, vol. ii. p. 66, 69.

+ Travels in North America, vol. U. p. 901, Engl. cd.

X Lettsom, p. 20.

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€90 «A «H*,

pordiug tQ Df £U14*, this method is also used in so*o pptvimt
pf C(rina>

The common, people, who have a coarser tern, boil it for some
time in water, and «se the liquor for common drink. Early in
the morning, the kettle filled with water is king over the fire,
and the tea is either put in enclosed in a bag, or by means of a
basket pressed to the bottom of the vessel. The coarsest tea only
is used in this manner, the qualities of, which being more fixed,
would probably not be so fully extracted by infusion.

VIRTUES.

Tea is indeed the common beverage of all the labouring people
in China ; and they are scarcely ever represented at work of any
kind, but the tea-pot and tea-cup appear as their accompani*
ments : reapers, threshers, and all who work out of doors, as
well as within, hare these attendants *.

With respect to the qualities of tea, it appears that an infusion
of green tea has the effect of raising the sensibility of the nerves,
and the irritability of the muscles ; and that it fives out in dw
stillation an odorous water, which is powerfully narcotic.

That the recent plant contains such an odorous narcotic power,
we might presume from the necessity which the Chinese find of
drying it with much beat before it can be brought into use ; and
that even after such preparation they must abstain from the use
of it for a year or more, that is, till its volatile parts are still
further dissipated : and it is said, that unless they use this pre-
caution, the tea in a more recent state manifestly shows strong
narcotic powers. Even in thh country the more odorous teas
often show their powers in affecting the nerves of the stomach,
and indeed of the whole system.

From these considerations it may fairly be concluded, that tea
is to be considered as a narcotic and active substance ; and that
it is especially such in its most odorous state, and therefore less
in the bohea than in the green tea, and the most so in the finer
kinds of the latter*

Its effects however seem to be very different In different per*
sons ; and hence the contradictory accounts that are given of
them. But if we consider the difference of constitution, which
occasions some variation in the operating of the same medicine,

i - ■■ s — ■

• Leltsom, p, 48,

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and of wkich we hmtfe * remarkable proof in tke operation of
opium, we shall not be surprised at the different operations of tea*

It is not at the same time to be denied, that green tea may
sometimes hare good effects. It is very possible, that in certain
persons, taken in moderate quantities, it may, like other nar*
codes, prove exhilarating, or, like them, ha?e some effect in
taking off irritability, or in quieting some irregularities of the
nervous system.

As its bad effects* have been often imputed to the warm water

• Cullen, Mat. Med. vol. ii. 309. Woodville, vol. iv. ISO. See
Ijettsom, p. 59, to the end.— The latter physician has scared the credulous
respecting tea by the following very frightful narrative : —

" An eminent tea- broker" (Mr. Nash he means), " after haying examined
in one day upwards of one hundred chests of tea, only by smelling at them
forcibly, in order to distinguish their respective qualities, was the next day
seized with giddiness, head-ache, universal spasms, and loss of speech and
memory. By proper assistance the symptoms abated, but be did not re-
cover: for though his speech returned, and his memory In some degree, yet
he continued, with unequal steps, gradually losing strength, till a paralysis
ensued, then a more general one, and at length be died. Whether tbb was
owing to effluvia of the tea may, perhaps, be doubted. Future accidents
may possibly confirm the suspicion to be just, or otherwise."

Dr. Lettsom then relates : M An assistant to a tea-broker had frequently,
for some weeks, complained of pain and giddiness of his bead after examining
and mixing different kinds of tea. The giddiness was sometimes so consi-
derable as to render it necessary for a person to attend him, in order to pre-
vent any injury, he might suffer from railing, or other accident. He was
bled in the arm freely, but without permanent relief; his complaint re-
turned as soon as he was exposed to his osual employment. At length he
was advised to be electrified, and the shocks were directed through his head.
The next day his pain was diminished, but the day after closed the tragical
scene. I saw him a few hours before he died ; he wa« insensible ? the use
of his limbs almost lost, and he sunk very suddenly into a fatal apoplexy.
Whether the effluvia of the tea, or electricity, was the cause of this event
h doubtful. In either view the case Is worthy of attention."

Anxious to ascertain this point as far as possible (for my grandmother,
Mrs. Winstanley, at the age of near one hundred, was in the habit of taking
very strong green tea, and would not allow any bad effects from tea, often
being told it was a slow poison, of which slowness she was a tolerably good
proof), I enquired of a gentleman who is smeller and taster to the iiast
India Company of the teas at Canton, from whom I obtained the following
Information.

M MY dear Sir London, Sept. 7, 1808.

44 1 had the pleasure to receive your letter of the 5th instant, and it al-
ways will afbrd me much satisfaction to be of the least service to you. You

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982 TEA TBBE.

that accompanies the tea, so there is no doubt that some of its
good effects may also be ascribed to the same cause, a«4 parti*
cularly its being so often grateful after a full meal.

After all, the infusion of tea, as it is commonly taken in England,
with a competent quantity of cream or milk and sugar, cannot
be very narcotic or sedative, especially as after a long voyage it

know the confined state we are in daring our stay either at Canton or Macao,
and the difficulty there is to obtain any information relating to the manu-
factures and customs of the Chinese, which we can only get from the Hong
merchants, none of whom I believe were ever in the tea country themselves,
bat derive all their information from their parsers, whom they annually send
there to buy them tea. From what I could collect from them, I understand
that the tree which produces the black and green tea is of the same species,
but b cultivated and manufactured in different provinces. The manner of
curing the black diners from that of the green; the former is not fired (or
tatch'd, as the Chinese call it) so often as the latter, and I am pretty certain
that, the fine light green or blneish colour we observe the hyson, and other
fine sorts of the green tea, to possess, is not natural, but a given colour,
either by Prussian blue, or by some other article introduced among the
leaves, at the time it is fired or tacbed,'whiph is always with the hyson three
times, and the common twankays and hyson skins twice, sometimes thrice.
The blacks (bobea tea excepted) are also fired twice : besides both kinds,
viz. blacks and greens, are a good deal exposed to the sun before and after
their undergoing this process. The black teas are produced in the province
of Fokein, and about twenty-four days journey from Canton ; the greens
are cultivated further off, from thirty to thirty- three days from Canton;
the former I should think about 700 miles distant, and the latter near 1000
from Canton. The Chinese merchants call the former the Bobea Country,
and the latter the Hyson Country. I understand (he finest sorts of the
blacks, viz. the PaqYa Scudry and Souchong and Pekoe, are produced from
those trees that are cultivated on. the higher land and hills; the trees that
grow on the low grounds do not produce good tea. The first gathering of
the leaves, which always comprises the finest tea, is in the month of April,
or early in May 5 the second in June, or the beginning of July ; and the
third, which is the last gathering, U in August or the beginning of Septem-
ber. The curing of the green tea is a more expensive and longer process
' than the Mack, and it is always much later in the season before we get them
at Canton than we do the black teas. The quantity fired at one time does
not exceed two catties, which is pot in a vessel made of iron, something in
the form oC pitch kettles on board of ships, or our saucepans ; and these are
called taches by the Chinese, ana' are fixed like our coppers in brickwork
in onr kitchens ; the person employed in firing keeps turning the tea with his
hand for a certain time, a few minutes only, and then take's it out of the
tach for a fresh supply ; it is done very quick; I have seen this part of the
process myself in the neighbourhood of Canton. The hyson and fine hyson
skin and twankay leaves are lv> fated or rolled in the palm of the hand pre^

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TEA THE. 238

if kept some time in the Bast India company's warehouses : and
the fine? sorts of it are not so much in request as formerly. Nor
can it be an unwholesome beverage for sedentary persons and such
as li?e freely, provided it be not taken too hot, or in immode-
rate quantities, or without any solid food accompanying it.
For the lower class of people, who generally life poorly, and
procure little animal food, tea, conveying little or no nourishment

vious to their being fired ; the blacks, I believe, do not undergo that process.
In general, I think the leaves of the green teas are larger than the blacks.
The>"« are several sorts of tea in China, which have never been seen in
Enrope, and of snch superlative quality, as to fetch amongst themselves
the high prices of from eight to sixteen tales the catty. This account I had
from a missionary, who was at Pekin sixteen years, and whom I saw about
twelve months before I quitted China. I have seen one kind of this tea,
the leaf of which is nearly white, but very different from the pekoe, which
you know has a whitish appearance. — Notwithstanding 60 much has been
said by various people of the unwholesome and very prejudicial effects
arising from the use of tea, 1 am of opinion it is quite erroneous. 1 have
stow been in the habit of smelling and tasting teas for the last eighteen years,
the last four of which I passed in China, and you know how much my time
was employed for days, weeks, and months, examining teas in this manner
every day ; besides which I always breakfast on it, and drink it in the af-
ternoon ; and if the article possessed any pernicious qualities I should cer-
tainly have felt It long before this. It is, I think, the drinking h too hot
which makes it prejudicial, if it be so at all. I always drink it warm, but
not hot. The green tea is a stronger astringent than the black, but I think it
quite as wholesome ; as a proof of it, the Chinese themselves in the northern
provinces of China and at Pekin drink nothing else but green tea. In the
southern they drink wholly black.— If there are any other questions relating
to the above subject you wish to know and I can answer, 1 shall have much
pleasure in communicating it.

• " E. LARKEN.'*

In addition to the above let me add the testimonies of Mr. Venn and Mr.
'Wright, who are smellers and tasters to the East India company of the
teas which have been imported, and place marks on each chest of tea as
good, very good, superlatively good, best, very best, extraordinary, fine,
incomparable, the bloom, and so on in degrees of comparison, which we
grammarians are unacquainted with, but which direct the purchase ; and
these gentlemen have been employed upwards of 40 years, sometimes' in
a morning tasting seventy cups, of all sorts, and after that susoHing often
from seven to eight hundred chests of tea, and these gentlemen never found
any thing in teas at all prejudicial to their healths : the former assert*, that
Dr. Lettaom's account of Mr. Nash's losing Mb life by smelling of teas is
founded upon mistake ; and Dr. Li promised him to alter the mis-statement.

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is a bad sucoeaaneom for beer ; end a meal on it, tacludtag stf.
gar and butter, is so eapensW e, they must forgo whet is more
necessary for their support, in order to enjoy it

When the Chinese first bqgan to make use of tea as a beverage,
we are not able to say:; but it is probable that the ill taste of the
water in many parts of the empire would induce them to look
out for some vegetable to correct it, soon after they arrived at
a state of civilization. The earliest account that we hare of it
is from two Arabian travellers, who visited China about the year
850, and relate that the inhabitants of that empire had a medi-
cinal beverage, named chah or sah> which was prepared by pour-
ing boiling water on the dried leaves of a certain herb, which
infusion was reckoned an efficacious remedy in various diseases*.
From the great revenue which these travellers inform us was le-
vied from the consumption of tea, it seems then to have been as
universally the favourite beverage of the Chinese in the ninth
century, as it is at present t.

Giovanni Botaro, an eminent Italian author, observes, that
the Chinese have a herb, out of which they press a delicate
juice, which serves them for drink instead of wine : it also pre-
serves their health, and frees them from all those evils that the
immoderate use of wine doth breed in us J.

About the year 1600, Texeia, a Spaniard, saw the dried
leaves in Malacca, where he was informed that the Chinese pre-
pared a drink from this vegetable : and in 1039 Olearius found
this practice prevalent amongst the Persians, who procured the
plant under the name of cha orcAto, from China, by means of
the Usbeck Tartars. In 1639, Stirkaw, the Russian ambassa-
dor at the court of the Mogul Chau Altyn, partook of the in-
fusion of tea ; and at his departure was offered a quantity of it,
as a present for the Czar«Michael Romanoff, which the ambassa-.
dor refused, as being an article for which they had no use in
Russia §.

Tea was net known in Europe as a beverage, before the com-
mencement of the seventeenth century. Some Dutch adventurers

• Reaneaot Anciennes Relations, Par. 1718, p. 31. Halter, Bib),
fret. i. 176. Lettsa*,p.ftl.
t Roberttoa'i India, p. 96.
t Sag!. Thmm. 1630. Aneenon'f Commerce.
i Utteow, p.30.

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MA TBBfr.

seeking, about that time,, for such objects as might fetch a price
in China, and hearing of the general usage there of a beverage
from a plant of the country, bethought themselves of trying
how far an European plant, of supposed great virtaee, might
also be relished by the Chinese, and thereby become a saleable
commodity amongst them ; and accordingly introduoed to them
the herb Sage, bo much once extolled by the Salernian aehool of
physic, as a powerful preservative of health ; the Dutch accept*
ing in return the Chinese Tea, which they brought to Europe*
The European herb did not continue, long at least, in use in
China ; but the consumption of tea has been gradually increasing
in Europe ever since *.

In 1641, Tulpius, a celebrated physician, and consul at Am*
sterdam, wrote in praise of the good qualities of tea. It is
asserted that he did eo by desire of the Dutch East India Com*
pany, who rewarded him with a considerable sum of money*
In 1667, Jonquet, a French physician,, extolled its virtues. In
1678, Bontetre, physician to the elector of Braudenburgh, who
had acquired gi4at reputation, bestowed high encomiums on its
qualities, in a dissertation which he published on tea, coffee, and
chocolate. This work was attended with great success, and con-
tributed not a little to render the use of it more general ; and
before the end of the century the consumption of it was con*
siderable.

The introduction of tea into England was about the year 1660,
when the first mention of it was made in the statute-book, and
a duty of fourpence a gallon laid on the liquor made and sold in
coffee-houses.

A quantity of it being brought over from Holland in the year
1666 by lord Arlington and lord Ossory, tea soon came into re-
quest amongj>eople of fashion, audits use by degrees since that
period has become general t. Han way informs us, that at this
time it sold for sixty shillings a pound J.

From these small beginnings we have seen the infusion of a
leaf from the furthest extremity of the earth become in a manner
a necessary of life, in several parts of Europe, and the passion
for it descend from the most elevated to the lowest orders in so-
ciety. In 1785 it was computed that the whole quantity of tea

• Staunton's Embassy, vol. i. p. SI. i Ibid.

t Jownel, vol. ii. p. 21.

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936

TEA TftEB.

imported into Europe was about nineteen millions of pounds, of
which it is conjectured that twelre millions were consumed in
Great Britain and its dependencies*.

Sir George Staunton informs us, that the annual public sales
of tea by our East India Company did not, in the beginning of
the eighteenth century, much exceed fifty thousand pounds weight,
independently of what little might be then perhaps clandestinely
imported. The Company's annual sales now (the year 1797)
approach * to twenty millions of pounds ; being an increase of
four hundred fold in less than one hundred years, and answers to
the rate of more than a pound each, in the course of the year,
for the individuals of all ranks, sexes and ages, throughout the
British dominions in Europe and America.

Since the year 1797, it is probable that the importation of tea
has much increased, and that at least thirty millions of pounds
are annually imported into Europe alooe +•

Since the free use of tea, the stone has become a very rare
disease in England J.

• Robertson's India, p. 252. + Embassy, vol. I. p. 22.

$ In this one instance I have deviated from the regularity of system by
making our account of Tea follow Coffee.

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•

GREAT BROAD-LEAVED MULLEIN.

VERBASCUM THAPSUS.

Clan V. Peotandiia. Order I. Monogynfa.
Ebwxt. Gew. Char. CorolU rotate, somewhat unequal : Captule three-
celled, two-Talved.
Spec. Char. Learns decuirent, on each side tomentose : Stem simple.

DESCRIPTION.

1 he stem rises two or three feet in height, and is irregularly
adorned with leaves, which are large, without footstalks, at the
base decurrent, oblong, pointed, indented at the margin, and
covered on both sides with fine down, or hair. The flowers are

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238

GREAT BROAD-LEAVED MULLEIN.

yellow, and clothe the extremity of the stem, and ire produced
in succession from the bottom. The calyx is out into five acute
segments, and is covered with down. The corolla is also cut
into fire segments, which are blunt, and somewfeat unequal.

HISTORY.

It is a native of England, and usually grows on the declivity
of ditches, producing a very grand appearance. Its remarkable
wooliines8 is very attractive. The leaves have a bitterish sub-
astringent taste, and a mucilaginous quality.

MEDICAL USE.

Catarrhs and diarrhoeas are the complaints for which the Ver-
bascum has been used. Dr. Home tried it in both diseases, but
allows its virtue only in the latter disorder. He relates fouf
cases in which the verbascum was given ; and from which he
concludes, " that it is useful in diminishing or stopping diarrhoeas
of an old standing, and often in easing the pains of the intes-
tines. This arises from the emollient and gently astringent qua-
lities of the plant. The decoction is made by boiling two ounces
of the leaves hi a quart of water for twenty minutes, and four
ounces of this decoction is to be given every three hours.

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STINKING GOOSE-FOOT,

ORACH.

CHENOPODIUM FGETIDUM.

Class V. Pentandria. Order II. Digynia.

Essnrr. Gbn. Chab. Calyx five-leaved, five-angled : Corolla none : Seed
one, lenticular above.

Spec. Char. Leaves entire} rhomboideo-ovate : Flosoers axillary, assem-
bled.

DESCRIPTION.
The plant reaches near a foot. Leaves numerous, mealy, al-
ternate, upon short footstalks. Flowers small, of a light green,
and placed in clusters, like the flowers of spinach in the alae of
the leaves, terminal, inconspicuous. No. seed-vessel.

HISTORY.
• It is usually found about ruins ; and flowers in August.

its recent state it has the offensive smell of putrid saltfbh, which
long remains on the hands.

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240

STINKING GOOSE-FOOT, OR ORACH.

MEDICAL USE.

Dr. Cullen says " that it has been frequently employed in hys-
terics and spasmodic complaints, with advantage ; not, however,
so frequently as might be expected, as it is a plant, in its fresh
state, not always ready at hand, and in its dry state it loses all
its sensible qualities. It can only be employed therefore in its
recent state, and the most convenient formula is that of a con*
serve ; and as it is not always easy to reconcile our patients to it
even in that state, it is not employed so often as I could wish."
—-Mat Med. vol. ii. p. 365.

Boerhaare gives a like commendation of the plant, and adds,
that the leaves applied externally hasten suppuration: " Folia
emolliunt, dolores sopiunt, et suppurationem maturescunk"

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COMMON ELM.

ULMUS CAMPESTRIS.

Ctas* V. Pentandria. Order II. Digynia.
Emewt. Gew. Char. Calyx five-cleft: Corolla none: Berry dry, coa-

prrsso- membranaceous.
•pec. Char. Leaves twice-serrate, unequal at the baie.

DESCRIPTION.
It becomes a large tree, covered with a rough crinkled bark.
The leaves are ovate, rough, doubly serrate, and alternate upon
diort peduncles. The flower precedes the leaves. The seed is
round, but somewhat compressed.

HISTORY.

This tree is common in Middlesex, but is said not to be found
north of Stamford.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
The inner tough bark abounds with a slimy juice, of, a bit-
terish taste, and was employed by Fallopius to unite wounds by
we first intention. But it is now chiefly employed as a ptisan for

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842 COMMON ELM.

scorbutic affections, and for the cure of herpes and lepra, tk.
Lysons mentions fire cases of inveterate eruptions, both dry and
humid, or those forming incrustations, which were suceeesfully
treated by a decoction of this bark, prepared from four Ounces
of it taken fresh, and boiled ra two quarts of water to one : of
this the patients were directed to drink a pint twice a day. The
body was kept open, and a few grains of nitre were added to
the ptisan. It is admitted by the authors of the Edinburgh Phar-
macopoeia, who do not deny its efficacy in leprosy ; but, as they
observe, such a remedy requires a very patient trial !

To receive benefit from the elm bark it must be continued for
some months ; and Dr. Lettsom has favoured us with a very
striking case of leprosy (in Med. Trans, vol. ii. p. 203), where a
cure was effected after every other remedy had failed. A yet mora
remarkable instance of its efficacy in leprosy is related by Banace
(in Journ. de Paris 1783, n. 256), who proposes the use of this
remedy in old ulcers, cancerous and scrophulous affections, scald
head, scurvy, &e. These recommendations merit attention. It
has been found of use in some nephritic cases.

Coffins are composed of this wood, as being very difficult to
corrupt These will be kept at a distance, in proportion to
tnr proper knowledge of plants.

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YELLOW GENTIAN.

GENTIANA LUTEA.

Class V. Pentandria. Order II. Digynia.
Essent. Ge*\ Char. Corolla monopetalous: Capsule two-valved, one-
celled: Rccrptacles two, longitudinal.
Spec. Char. Corolla deeply five-deft, rotate, verticfllate : Calyx a Bpftthft.

DESCRIPTION.
1 nt plant rises two or three feet in height. The stem is strong,
smooth, erect The leaves which arise from the lower part of
the stem are spear-shaped, large, ribbed, those from the upper
part more orate, smooth, sessile. The flowers are large, yel-
low, produced in whorls, and stand on a footstalk. The calyx
is a spatha, which drops. The corolla is divided into fire or six
segments. The pistil has no style, but two rcfleaed stigmata.
The capsule is conical.

HISTORY.
Gentian is a perennial plant, which grows upon the Alps,
Pyrenned^ Appenines, and other mountainous situations in the
temperate parts of Europe.

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244 YELLOW GENTIAN.

The roots are long, thick, externally of a brown colour, and
wrinkled : internally spongy, and of a yellow colour, without
any remarkable smell, but surpassing in bitterness all other Eu-
ropean vegetables. Alcohol dissolves only the bitter extractive,
water both the extractive and mucilage.

Neumann got from 960 grains 390 alcoholic, and afterwards
£10 insipid watery extract ; and inversely, 540 watery, and only
30 alcoholic.

MEDICAL USE.

Gentian possesses the general virtues of bitters in an eminent
degree, and it is totally devoid of astringency. On dead animal
matter it acts as an antiseptic. Taken into the stomach it proves
a powerful tonic, and in large doses it evacuates the intestines.
It is useful in debility of the stomach, in general debility, and in
gout. Combined with astringents it cures intermittents. Ex-
ternally it is applied to putrid ulcers.

The root, which is the only medicinal part in use, has little
or no smell, and to the taste manifests great bitterness, a quality
which is extracted by aqueous and spirituous menstrua, though
not in so great a degree by water as by spirit As an intense
bitter it is admitted to be not only a tonic, but a fine stomachic,
and when joined with equal parts of tormentil root, or galls,
says Cullen, it never fails curing an intermittent equally with
the Peruvian bark. It was given before the discovery of this
bark in that disease. " Haec cortice Peruviana nondum invent!
habebatur pro ultimo remedio in quartani." — Boerhaave. Again :
" Radix ad unciam semes in vino decocta vase clauso conducit
ad omnes febres intermittentes." It is strongly recommended in
the green sickness :— " Infusum hujus plants in chlorosi vir-
ginibus pallidis, et stomacho confortando conducit" In hys-
terics : " In passionibus hysterick est pianta optima." Stop-
page of the months : " In mensibus obstructis est optima plant*."
In obstructions of every kind : " In obstructionibus pertinacis-
simis conducit, uti lienis et hepatis." A want of bile : " Succus
in hac pianta wt amarior quam absynthio, et ulla alia anuuri
herba, hinc bilis defectui supplet" Against worms : " Lam-
bricos necat, quibus amarore suo adversa sunt et ratione virtatis
alcalinse, contrariantur acidis putridisque, in quibus vermes ni-
dulantur." In dropsy : " Optima in hydrope." In gout : €i Eat
pianta primaria contra podagram." In hydrophobia: " In h/«

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YELLOW GBMTIAlft 845

tropnobia epecifice laudator." Against the bites of venomous
animals: "MorsibusveneuatoruraaoiinaUumsQccurrik" Against
gangrene : " Gangrenae resistit" Sordid ulcers : " Chirurgi
radicem lente siccatam et in scrobem rasam ulceribus sordidis
aspergunt et depurant" In the fistula: u Vel sub specie tu-
runda? istuKs intrudunt ad fistulas dilatandas, quod fit, quia laxior
radicis substantia A snsceptis ex fistula humoribus intumescens
earn sensim diktat, et quia sal acre ulceris fistulosi callum exedit
Tel absuroit" So far the great Boerhaaye ; and the famous Haller
recommends it also in asthma. It is more antiseptic than bark,
or keeps meat longer from corruption, yet it does not turn of a
black colour with icon.

As far as regards my own experience I have found it a most
useful remedy, and until the time arrives that we shall hare found
out a specific for each disease, or specifics, we must follow what
has been denominated the Brunonian practice, namely, acting oa
the constitution, which of herself removes a long catalogue of
disease, thus acting on disease through her powers, which often
require to be assisted. The nicety in physic is to know the
nature of each disease, attend to the constitution, and not to
do too much or too little.

PREPARATIONS.

Extract of Gentian. (Extractum Gentian* Luteae. E.)

Take of gentian root, any quantity :
Having cut and bruised it, pour upon it eight times its quantity
of distilled water. Boil to the consumption of one half of the
liquor, and strain it by strong expression. Evaporate the de-
coction immediately, to the consistence of thick honey, in a
bath of water saturated with muriate of soda. Of the extract
from ten grains to two scruples are given.

Compound Infusion of Gentian, oe Bitter Infusion. (In*
fusum Gentian® compositum, vulgo Infusum Amarum. E.)

Take of gentian root, cut into pieces, half an ounce ;

dried peel of Seville oranges, bruised, one drachm ;

coriander seeds, bruised, half a drachm ;

dilated alcohol, four ounces ;

water, one pound :

First pour on the alcohol, and three hours thereafter add the
water ; then macerate without heat Her twelve hours, and strain.

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845 YBltxrvr gentian.

flie dose if two or three drachms, at twelve o'clock, seven ia
the evening, and bedUtme, every day, to improve digestion.

Compound Infusion of Gentian. (Infusum Gentians com*
positum. L.)

Take <tf the root of gentian, oat into pieces, one drachm ;

dried orange peel, a drachm and a half;

fresh outer rind of lemons, half an oanoe ;

boiling water, twelve ounces, by measure :

Macerate for an hoar, and strain.

Dub.

Take of braised gentian root, two drachms ;

— fresh outer rind of lemons, half an ouuce ;

■«> ■ ■ ■ dried peel of Seville oranges, a drachm and a half ;
, proof spirit, four ounces by measure;

boiling water, twelre ounces by measure :

First pour ou the spirit, and after three hours the water: lastly,
after macerating two hours, filter.

These formulae are all essentially the same, The Edinburgh
college employ the largest proportion of gentian ; but they in-
fuse it in cold water, which does not extract the bitter principle
so quickly or so fully as boiling water, although it dissipates less
of die flavour of the aromatics. The alcohol is a useful addi-
tion, both in promoting the extraction of the virtues of all the
ingredients, and in preserving the infusion longer from spoiling.

Geatian is the strongest aitd purest of the European bitters,
and readily imparts its virtues to water. These infusions are in
very common use as stomachic and tonic* The dose is from
two to throe drachms in simple peppermint, or any other vehicle.

Compound Wine of Gentian, commonly called Bitter
- Wins. (Vinson Gentian* compositum ; vutgo Vuuun Atna-
rum. E.)

Take of gentian root, half an ounce ;

- cinchona bark, one ounce ;

Seville orange-peel, dried, two drachms;

■ canella alba, one drachm ;

diluted alcohol, four ounces ;

« Spanish white wine, two pounds and a half :

First pour the dilated alcohol on the root and barks, sliced and

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Yellow gehtian* 247

bruised, and, after twenty-four hours, add the wine ; then ma*
cerate for seren days, and strain.

This wine, which is a pleasant bitter, is intended as a substi-
tute for the old tinctura ad stomachicos. Wines of this kind are
sometimes introduced at the tables of epicures in Italy, to assist
the stomach in digestion. The quantity given is from two to
three drachms, in water, three or four times a day, or an hour
before dinner, to create an appetite and assist digestion.

Jt properly enters into the composition of the bitter tincture
of rhubarb of the Edinburgh college, which see under the article
Rhubarb.

PREPARATIONS*

I£. 1. Take of the compound infusion of gentian, drachms 3,

prepared kali .««•-- grains 2,

spirit of pimento • - • - - drachms 2,

■ cinnamon water • • - * - drachms 7 :
Make into a draught, to be taken an hour before dinner to
create an appetite, or with some people four times a day.

Ifc. 2. Take of the compound tincture of gentian, drachms 2,

■ tincture of Colombo * . - - drachms 2,
cinnamon water,

■' peppermint water, equal quantities, drachms 4 :

Form into a draught, of which take one four times a day, as a
fine tonic*.

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PURPLE GENTIAN.

GENTIANA PURPUREA.

Class V. Pentandria. Order II. Digynia.
Essent. Gen. Char. Corolta monopetalous : Capsule two-ralved, oue-

celled : the Receptacles two, longitudiual.
Spec. Ciiaii. Corollas somewhat five-cleft, campanulate, verticillate :

Calyxes truncate. .

DESCRIPTION.
1 his plant rises to a foot iu height. Stem erect. Upper leaves
iu pairs, sheathing the stem, inclosing the flowers. Flowers
large, purple, bell-shaped, standing in whorls. Anthers coni-
cal. Stigmas two reflexed. Capsule ova(e, containing numerous

small seeds.

HISTORY.
It is a native of the Alps, and was introduced in this country

in the year 1768.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.
The same as with the preceding, and it may be remarked that
our Kuglish gentians have most probably the same virtues as the
foreign, as far as my experience has reached ; yet we often stek
at a distance what lies at the very threshold of our doors !

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•

PRICKLY SALTWORT.

SALSOLA KALI.

Class V. Pentandria. Order II. Dtgynia.
IstEifT. Graf . Char. Calyx five leaves : Corolla none : Capsule one seed :

Seed snailform.
Spec. Char. Stem herbaceous, decumbent : Leave* subulate, spiny, rough :

Calyx marginate, axillary.

DESCRIPTION.

1 his rises to about a foot. The leaves stand in threes. The
flowers are sessile, of a rose colour, obscurely five-cleft; border
round, indented.

HISTORY.

It is a native of Britain, common on the sea shores, and
flowers in July and August.

* The barilla or soda is chiefly prepared from this plant : pot-
ash, from other kinds of vegetables.

Natural History of Potash.
If wood or vegetables be burnt in the open air, and the ashes
repeatedly washed with water till it passes tasteless, and if this
liquid be evaporated to dryness, the substance which remains is

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250

UlICKLY SALTWORT.

tolled potash ; far, however, from being in a state of parity. la
this state it occurs in commerce.

It is seldom found in an aacombined state, except in wells in
towns, as at Donay, &c It is said to exist in the aluminous
ore of La Tolfa. In combination with the sulphuric, nitric, and
muriatic acids, it is fownd m Spain, and in the East Indies.

Potash was formerly denominated the vegetable alkali, bnt
. improperly, because it is met with abundantly in mineral bodies,
more especially in volcanic products. Dr. Kennedy has lately
discovered it in the pumice stone. Vauquelin has found it in
the zeolite from the Ferro islands. Klaproth has likewise dis-
covered it in the leu cite, an earth of the siliceous genus.

Vegetable physiologists are not agreed whether potash be de-
rived from the soil in which vegetables grow ; whether it exists
un combined with any acid in plants ; whether it be a product of
vegetation ; or whether it be generated during the process of
burning.

Potash was for a long time unknown in its pure state, be-
cause it was difficult to obtain it. We shall examine its proper*
ties in that state, and then point out the methods of obtaining it.

Properties of Potash.

Potash, in a crystallized form, consists of soft quadrangular
compressed prisms, which arc extremely caustic and deliquescent*
It dissolves all soft animal matters when brought into contact
with it. It liquefies by a gentle heat, and rises in fumes at high
temperatures. It does not unite in a direct manner with phos~
phorus. It easily combines with sulphur and metallic oxides*
It dissolves alumine iu the humid way, and even a small quantity
of silex ; but it does not act on glucine or zircon, nor on mag-
nesia or lime. It coutracts no union with barytes. It absorbs
water and carbonic acid rapidly. It fuses into glass with silex
by the aid of tire. It forms salts which in general do not yield
their acid unless to barytes. It changes blue vegetable colours
green, and possesses all the general properties of alkalies.

Methods of obtaining Potash.

It has long been a desideratum with chemists to possess a me*
thod of preparing potash in a state of absolute purity ; the strong
tendency which it has to combination renders this extremely dif-
ficult. The following are the methods now made use of i—

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PRICKLT SALTWORT, S51

1. Bouillon la Grange's apparatus* consists of several boxes
of common deal. At the bottom pot river sand, which must bo
well washed, and over it add another stratum, but of a finer
kind, and cover the whole with a cloth, besprinkled with wood
ashes. In the bottom of each box a hole is made, into which
is fitted a glass tube, for the purpose of affording a passage to
the liquor as it filters through the sand.

Having arranged the apparatus in this manner, take equal
parts of quicklime and potash of commerce, if the lime is verjr
caustic ; but in the contrary case, it requires twenty parts of
lime to fifteen of potash : put water into an iron kettle, bring
it nearly to a state of ebullitioo, and then add lime, which by
its slaking will bring the water to that state completely. When
it is slaked mix the potash, and form of the whole a thick li-
quid, which must be suffered to cool a little. Then pour the
mixture into the boxes, and immediately throw water over it;
but to prevent the water from making holes, when added, place
over It a small board, which will rise with the water.

Care must be taken to place earthen pans, or other vessels,
to receive the liquor which runs through the tubes ; and, that
the ley may not absorb carbonic acid from the atmosphere, the
vessels must be closed with care, in such a manner as to exclude
the external air. It will be necessary also to keep water always
over the mixture, which must be collected till it passes tasteless
from the tubes.

The liquors obtained are nearly of the same degree of strength
till W wards the end of the process, when they grow weak sud-
denly.

To evaporate the water, use should be made of cast iron pots,
beginning with the last portion, which are a little weaker ; and
to prevent the necessity of keeping the strongest a long time in
contact with the air when boiling, a strong ebullition is requi-
site. When the fluid is concentrated to a certain degree, any
sulphate of potash that may be present will crystallise, and be
precipitated.

To obtain' dry potash pour the concentrated liquor into a
small bason, and proceed with the evaporation, till a little of it
poured on an iron plate, or a marble slab, becomes solid.

• La Graufce'f Manual of Chemutry, vol. i. p. 172.

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§52 PRICK LT SALTWORT.

Then put the concrete potash into a jar, and pour over it
very strong alcohol; the potash alone dissolves in it; the sul-
phate and muriate of potash, with the portions of earth and
even of carbonic acid, which it obstinately retains, or which it
may have acquired from the air during the evaporation, remain
at the bottom of the solution. Afterwards decant the pure li-
quor, and distil it in a retort till it "becomes colourless. It must
then be evaporated in a silver bason. On cooling, it crystallizes
in white lamina?, which are sometimes three- tenths of an inch in
length : or, instead of suffering it to crystallize, it may be eva-
porated to dryness.

2. Lowitz has given another method*. According to this
chemist, the whole of the operation for obtaining potash of the
greatest purity, and without the least colour, consists in this :
A liiivium of potash, freed from carbonic acid in the usual man-
ner, is evaporated to a thick pellicle. After the cooling, the
foreign salt which has crystallized is to be separated, and the
evaporation of the lixivium continued in an iron pot. During
this second evaporation the pellicle of foreign salts, particularly
of carbonate of potash, which continues to be formed, must be
carefully taken off with an iron skimmer. When no more pel-
licle is formed, and the matter ceases to boil up, it is removed
from the fire and suffered to cool, continually stirred with an iron
spatula. It is then to be dissolved in double the quantity of
cold water, and the solution filtered, and evaporated in a glass
retort, till it begins to deposit regular crystals. If the mass
should consolidate ever so little by cooling, a small quantity of
water is to be added, and it must be heated again to render it
fluid. After the formation of a sufficient quantity of regular
crystals, the fluid, which is very brown, is to be decanted,
and the salt, after being suffered to drain, must be redissolved
in the same quantity of water. The decanted fluid must be kept
in a well-closed bottle, and suffered to become clear by subsiding
during several days. It must then be decanted for a second eva-
poration and crystallization. The process must be repeated as
long as the crystals afford, with the least possible quantity of wa-
ter, solutions perfectly limpid. These solutions are to be pre-
served in well-closed bottles, to defend them from the access of
air.

• Nicholson's Journal, vol. i. p. 14.

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FJHCkLT SALTWORT. . S5f

The greatest difficulty of this process arises from the facility
with which the fluid assumes a solid form. To obviate this in*
convenience a small portion of it may be concentrated to the
point at which it becomes converted into a solid mass by cool-
ing. The saturation of a lixivium considerably evaporated may
be ascertained by throwing small pieces of this mass into it during
its cooling. When these are no longer dissolved, it is a proof
that it is at the required point.

With regard to the foreign salts which are mixed with the pot*
ash, the greatest portion separates by crystallization after the
first evaporation. The rest is separated during the second con.
centration by the continual skimming of the pellicle. The little
which may remain with the potash must precipitate for want of
water of solution, in a lixivium, wherein the alkali itself is ne
longer dissolved but by its own water of crystallization.

Potash, and Silex (Mint), form Glass.

If potash and silex are fused together, a combination is ob-
tained known under the name of glass. This product differs ac-
cording to the quantities of silex and potpsh of which it is com-
posed.

If three or four parts of potash be fused with one of silex, the
result will be a soft brittle kind of glass, which is soluble in
water. This solution is called liquid siliceous potash, or impro-
perly liquid of flints.

To prepare this liquid, take one part of silex, reduced to a
fine powder (or pure sand), and three or four parts of potash ;
pnt these two substances into a crucible, which must be only half
filled, and place the crucible in the fire. As soon as the matter
alters into fusion it puffs up considerably, and continues to swell
till the alkali has dissolved the silex. The crucible is to be kept
uncovered as long as the effervescence lasts ; but when it is over
cover the crucible, and augment the heat till the whole fuses
quietly. The contents are then poured out on a dry iron plate
or stone ; the matter as it cools becomes hard, and assumes the
appearance of glass.

Natural History of Soda.

The name of soda is given to the next alkali, which greatly
resembles potash. Hitherto we are not better acquainted with
the nature of soda than with that of potash, being equally unoer-

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fS4 prickly- *altwort.

tain whether it previously existed ready formed Ja the vegetable,
or if it be a combination of certain radicals effected dutiag tee
process for obtaining it.

Soda frequently occurs in the mineral kingdom united with
sulphuric, muriatic, and boracic acids ; it is also found in large
quantities in Egypt combined with carbonic acid. It appears
to be deposited in large impure masses, under the surface of the
earth, in various countries, from which it is extracted by run-
ning water. Thus it is found after the spontaneous evaporation
of the water, mixed with sand in the bottom of lakes in Hun-
gary, in the neighbourhood of Bilin in Bohemia, and in Swit-
zerland. It occurs also in China, and near TripoH in Syria,
Egypt, Persia, and India. It frequently oozes out of walls, and
erystallixes on their surface.

Properties of Soda.

Soda diners particularly from potash by the following pro*
perties. In the fire it is rather more fusible. When exposed
to the contact of the air it attracts water and carbonic acid ; but
it does not liquefy like potash, it merely acquires a pasty con-
sistence, and at last crumbles into powder. It is not altered by
light. It attracts sulphur and sulphurated hydrogeu more feebly.
It adheres less strongly to the acids. It fuses and dissolves ale-
mine more easily. AH its other properties, its volatilization by
a very high degree of heat, its acrid causticity, its solubility, its
combinations with sulphur, Ac, resemble those of potash.

Method op obtaimiwo Soda.

Soda, like potash, is procured by lixiviation from the ashes of
burnt plants, but only from those which grow upon the sea
shores. The variety of plants employed for this purpose is very
considerable. In Spain soda is procured from the different s pe-
des of the Salsola salicornia and Batis maritima. The Zostera
maritima is burnt in some places on the borders of the Baltic.
In this country we burn the various species of Fuci, and in
France they burn the Chenopodium maritimum.

The soda thus procured is more or leas pure according to the
mature of the particular plant from which it is obtained. The
greatest part, however, is a true carbonate of soda.

In order to obtain it in a state of purity the carbonate must

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PRICKLY SALTWORT. 2S5\

be treated like potash of commerce with lime and ardent spirit,
as described before.

Remark — It is carious that some plants, which in their native
toil yield only potash, afford also soda if they are cnltirated in
the neighbourhood of the sea, or on land occasionally inundated
by it.

Experimental Proofs of the Properties of Soda.

Experiment I.

Method of distinguishing Soda from Potash.

Let fall into a solution of the alkali to be inrestigated a few
grains of oxalic acid ; for this acid forms with potash oxalate of
potash, which is very soluble, and on the contrary with soda it
produces oxalate of soda, which is of a very difficult solubility.

Experiment II.

Formation of Soap.

- The combination of soda or potash with oils, of fat in gene-
ral, forms the compound called soap. The union of oil, &c
with potash affords those called soft soap ; the combination of
•oda with the same substances affords those oaBed hard soap.
It seems to be an established truth, that potash combined with
nay kind of fat can only afford a soap, to which uo cooling can
gire a hard consistency. The addition, howerer, of a certain
quantity of soda, or even of muriate of soda, will produce the
effect of consolidating it The formation of white soap may be
shown in the following manner :—

Let one part of lime (preriously slaked) and two of soda be
boiled in twelve parts of water for half an hour, filter the lixi-
Vtam through a linen cloth (pouring back the fluid upon the
doth till it passes clear), and evaporate it tiH its specific gravity
be about 1*375, or, whkh is the same thing, till a phial which
would contain one ounce of water will hold an ounce and three*
eighths of the fluid : this baring been done, soap may be made
by mere mixture of this ley wish olire oil, in the proportion of
eae part of the former with two of the latter, in a glass on
ttooe-ware ?esseL Thia mixture being beat up from time to
tine with a wooden spatula, soon becomes consistent, and if
left to stand for four or fire days it forms a white hard soap*
.fomorfc— In large manufactories the ley for making soap i§

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256 PftlCKLY* 8ALTW0KT.

made no stronger than to float a new-laid egg, when the work-
men begin to form the mixture. The oil, or tallow, is first
boiled with a weak ley an til the whole is formed into a sapo-
naceous compound. It is then kept boiling with a stronger ley
until it acquires a considerable consistence, and seems to be se-
parating from the fluid below. This separation is a very ma-
terial part of the operation ; and to effect it completely a quan.
tity of common salt is added, the materials are continually boiled
for three or four hours, and then the fire is withdrawn. The
soap will now be found united at the top of the liquor* or what
is called the waste ley, which is of no further use, and is there*
fore drawn off. The soap is now melted for the last time with
a ley, or even with water ; it is then allowed to cool for a short
time, and afterwards cast into wooden frames. The last melting
is of considerable importance, as it gives the soap a compact ap-
pearance.

The tallow for making soap is reckoned good if 13 cwt. yield
a ton of white soap.

Mottled soap is made in a similar manner as the last ; the
mottled appearance is given towards the end of the operation xrf
boiling by dispersing the ley through the soap, pr by adding- to
it a quantity of a solution of sulphate of iron, which by its de-
composition deposits its oxide through the soap, and gives it an
appearance of blue marble. In some manufactures theblack
oxide of manganese is made use of for the same purpose.

Yellow soap is made with tallow and resin; and these are
reckoned good, if 10 cwt. of tallow and 3| cwt of resin, with
the proper quantity of soda, afford a ton of soap.

PREPARATIONS.

Water of Potash, commonly called Caustic Ley. (Aqua
Potassae, vulgo Lixivium Causticum. £•)

Take of newly prepared lime, eight ounces ;

carbonate of potash, six ounces :

Put the lime into an iron or -earthen vessel, with twenty-eight
ounces of warm water. After the ebullition is finished, instantly
add the salt; and, having thoroughly mixed them, cover the
vessel till they cool. When the mixture has cooled, agitate it
well, and pour it into a glass funnel, whose throat must be ob*.
structed with a piece of clean linen. Cover the upper orifice* of
the. funnel, and insert its tube into another glass vessel, so that

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FBIOKLT 8ALTWOM. tSf

the water of potash may gradually drop through die rag into the
lower Yessel. As toon as it ceases to drop, pour into the funnel
some ounces of water ; bnt cautiously, so that it may swim above
the matter. The water of potash will again begin to drop, and
the affusion of water is to be repeated in the same manner, until
three pounds hare dropped, which wHl happen m the space of
two or three days ; then mix the superior and inferior parts of
the liquor together by agitation, and keep it in a well-stopt

pWal.

Water or Pore Kali. (Aqua Kali Puri. L,)

Take of prepared kali, four pounds j
« lime, six pounds j

distilled water, four gallons i

Put four pints of water to the lime, and let than stand together
for an hour ; after which add the kali and the rest of the water ;
then boil for a quarter of an hour ; suffer the liquor to cool, and
strain it A pint of this liquor ought to weigh sixteen ounces*

If the liquor effervesce with any acid, add more lime, and boil
the liquor and lime in a covered vessel for five minutes* I*s£ly,
let it cool again, and strain it

These processes do not differ materially. They are founded
apon the affinity 4>f lime being stronger than that of potash for
carbonic acid. Of .course* when lime comes in contact with car*
bonate of potash, the carbonic acid quits the potash to unite with
the lime, and the results of the mixture are potash and latbonate
of lime. Now, as the carbonate of lime is insoluble in water,
and the potash is very soluble, they may be separated by filtra*
tion. In doing this, however, we must take care to employ
instruments on which the solution of potash does not act, and
to prevent the free access of air, from which it would attract
carbonic add, and thus frustrate the whole operation. The
latter object is attained by covering the upper or broad eqd of
the funnel with a plate of glass, and inserting the lower end into
the neck of a phial, which it fits pretty closely. The former
object is attended with greater difficulties, and indeed scarcely
to be effected, so powerful and general is the agency of potash*
All animal substances are immediately attacked and destroyed
by it; therefore our filters cannot be made of sUk, w.oolien^
or paper, which contains glue ; and although neither /vegetable
matter* nor silica entirely escape its action, linen and sand are,
on the whale, the least objectionable. A filter of sand was U*e4

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098 motcr &al*w*»*.

byEfc.Bfackt l^5rttdh>pped Amjgtdp^bWelntothetubeof
the funnel, ib some part of which it formed itself a firm bed,
While tiie inequalities on its surface Afforded interstices of suf-
ficient size for the passage <of the filtering liquor. On the upper
strrftice fcf (his stone- life put h tfrtn foyer of Knt or dean tow;
hntaftyaiefy above thfe, hut not to contact with it, he dropped
a stone stfrtllario the former, and of fe'fcfte proportioned to the
fcwfcB in the upper part of the tube of the funnel. Hie inter,
stices between this second stone and the funnel were filled up
with stoties of a less dimension, and the gradation uniformly
continued till pretty small sand was employed. Finally, this was
covered with a layer of coarser sand, and small stones, to sustain
the weight of the fluid. A filter of sand being thus constructed
Ita the Atnnel, tt was washed perfectly clean by making fresh
Water pass through it till it dropped from the foWer extremity of
the funnel perfectly clear and transparent; and before using it;
it wafe allowed' to stand for some days, that no water might re*
main among the interstices of the sand.

From the spongy nature of the residuum which remains upon
the filter, and especially if we use that of sand, a considerable
quantity of the solution of potash wffl be retained. It is, how-
over, easily obtained fey pouring gently over ft, so as to disturb
it as tittle' as possible, a quantity of water; the ley immediate!/
begins again to drop from the funnel ; and as, from the differ.
«nce of their specific gravity, the water does not mix with it, but
swims above it, the whole ley passes through before any of th£
water. By means of the taste we easily learn when the whtol*
ley has passed.

As it is natural to suppose that the strongest solution will pass
first, and the weakest last, we are directed to agitate the whofe
together to render their strength uniform.

tf the solution of potash be pure it will be colourless, and it
Will neither effervescfe with acids, nor form a precipitate witn
carbonate of potash. If it effervesces, carbonic acid is present,
and must be separated by again boiling the solution with a IHflo
lime, or* by dropping into it flme water as long as it produces
any precipitate. Tf, on the contrary, it contain Kme, from too
much of it having been employed in the preparation, it may bt
separated by dropping into the ley a solution of the carbdnfcte of
potash. When we hatte thus purified our solution eff potash, it
must be again filtered.

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MEDICAL USE.

The solution of caustic potash, under various names, has at
different times been celebrated as a lithontriptic, and as often
fallen again info disuse. Tbe retry contradictory accounts of its
effects as a solr/eotare now, in some degree, explicable, since it
hap been discovered that urinary calculi are very different in their
natures, 90 tfyat some of t^em are .only soluble in acids, and
Others oaIj in alkalies. Of jthft last description are the calculi
of nric acid, which arp very frequent, and those of urate of am~
mgnia* On these, there/or^, alkalies may be supposed to make
«ome impression ; and that alkalies, or alkaline carbonates, taken
by the mouth, hare occasionally relieved calculous complaints, is
certain. It is, however, said that their continued use debilitates
the stomach ; and Af* Fourcroy has proposed applying the re.
medy immediately to the disease, by injecting into the bladder, a
tepid splution of potash or soda, so dilute that it can be held in
the month. Before the alkaline solution be injected, the bladder
is to be completely evacuated of urine, and washed out with an
ipjpcftifn of tepid water* After the alkaline injection has re-
mained 4* the .bladder half an hour or more, it is to be evacu-
ated, and allawed to settle. If, on the addition of a little mu-
i^tic acjd^ a precipitate he formed, we shall have reason to con.
c}ujte ths)t (he calculus contains uric acid, and that the alkali has
acted an it

Very diluted alkaline solutions may also be taken into the
Stomach as antacids, but we possess others which are preferable.

Ffifornajly alkaline solutions have been more frequently used,
either very dilute, simply as a stimulus, in rickets, gouty swell-
mgs, and spasmodic diseases^ or concentrated ap a caustic, to
destroy the poison of the viper and of rabid, animals.

POTA8H, FORMERLY STRONGEST COMMON CACSTIC. (PotaSSa,

olim Caustkum Commune Acerrimum. E.^)

Take <rf the sedition of potash, any quantity :
Evaporate it in a covered ? ery clean iron vessel, till* on the
ebelbtion ceasing, the saline matter flows gently like oil, which
happnns before the vessel becomes red* Then pour it out on a.
smooth iron plate; let it he divided into email pieces before it
hardens, and immediately deposited in a well-stopt phial.

s %

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960 PRICKLY S ALTWOMT.

Pore Kali. (KaH Piiraoi. «E.)

Take of water of pure kali, one gallon r

Evaporate it to dryness ; after which let the salt melt on the
fire, and pour it out.

The principal thing to be attended to in this operation, is to
conduct the evaporation so rapidly that the ley shall not absorb
any carbonic acid from the atmosphere. As long as any water
of solution remains, the ebullition is evident, and the evapora-
tion is to be continued until it cease. The heat is then to be
increased a little, which renders the potash perfectly fluid, and
gives it the appearance of an oil, when it is ready to be poured
out, either on a slab, as directed by the colleges, or into iron
moulds, such as are used for the melted nitrate of silver.

The potash prepared according to these directions is sufficiently
pure for medical use, but is not fit for chemical experiments.
'We can, however, obtain it perfectly white and crystallized, ac-
cording to Berthollct, by adding to the ley, when evaporated so
far that it would assume the consistence of boney, if permitted
to cool, u quantity of alcohol, equal to one-third of the carbo-
nate of potash operated on, mixing them together, and letting
them boil a minute or two. The mixture is then to be poured
into a glass vessel, and corked up, when the impurities will gra-
dually subside, partly in a solid form, and partly dissolved In
water. The supernatant alcoholic solution is then to be evapo-
rated rapidly, till its surface become covered with a black crust,
which is to be removed, and the liquid below is to be poured
into a porcelain vessel, when it will concrete into a white sub.
stance, which is to be broken in pieces, and immediately ex-
cluded from the action of the air.

* A less expensive way of obtaining potash perfectly pure is that
of Lowitz before mentioned.

MEDICAL USE.

Potash is only used as a caustic, or to form solutions of a
known strength ; and even its use as a caustic is inconvenient,
from its being so quickly affected by the air, and from its rapid
deliquescence, which renders it apt to apread.
Potash with Lime, formerly Milder Common Caetvtc

(Potassa cum Calce, oiim Causticum Commune MMns. E.)

Take of solution of potash, any quantity ;

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FB1CKXT SALTWORT. 061

Evaporate hi a covered iron v essel till one third remains ; then
mix with it as much new-slaked lime as will bring it to the con-
sbtence of pretty solid pap, which is to be kept in a vessel closely
stopt

Lime with Pure Kali. (Calx cum Kali Puro. L.)

Take of quicklime, five pounds and four ounces ;

1 water of pure kali, sixteen pounds :

Boil away the water of pure kali to a fourth part ; then sprinkle
in the lime, reduced to powder by the affusion of water. Keep
it in a vessel closely stopt.

Caustic Kali with Lime. (Kali Causticum cum Calce.)

Evaporate caustic ley to one- third ; then add powdered burnt
lime till it form a sufficiently thick mass, which is to be kept in
well-closed vessels.

The addition of the lime in these preparations renders them
less apt to deliquesce, more easily managed, and milder in their
operation.

Carbon Ate of Potash. (Carbonas Potassas. £.)

Let impure carbonate of potash, called in English pearlashes,
be put into a crucible, and brought to a low red heat, that the
oily impurities, if there be any, may be burnt out : then tritu-
rate it with an equal weight of water, and mix them thoroughly
by agitation. After the faeces have subsided, pour the liquor
into a very clean iron pot, and boil to dryness, stirring the salt
towards the end of the process, to prevent its sticking to the
vessel.

Prepared Kali. (Kali Prseparatum. L.)

Take of potashes, two pounds ;

boiling distilled water, three pints :

Dissolve and filter through paper ; evaporate the liquor till a
pellicle appears on the surface; then set it aside for twelve
hours, that the neutral salts may crystallize: after which pour
out the liquor, and boil away, with a slow fire, the whole of the
water, constantly stirring, lest the salt should adhere to the pot.
In like manner is purified impure kali from the ashes of any kind
of vegetable.

The same salt may be prepared from tartar, which should be
harnt till it beoomes of an ash colour.

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Pure Carbonate op Potash, Formerly Salt 6f Tartar.
(Carbonas Potassae Purissimus, oKm Sal Tartari. E.)

Take of impure super- tart rate of potash, any quantity :
Wrap it op in a moist bibulous paper, or pat it into a crucible,
and burn it into a Mack mass, by placing it amotfg RVe coals.
Having reduced this mass to powder, expose it in an open cru-
cible to the action of a moderate fire till it become white, or at
least of a* ash-gray colour, taking care that it do not melt Then
dissolve it in warm water; strain the liquor through a linen cloth,
and evaporate it in a clean iron vessel, diligently stirring it, to-
wards the end of the process, with an iron spatula, to prevent
it from sticking to the bottom of the vessel. A very white salt
will remain, which is to be left a little longer on the ire, till the
bottom of the vessel becomes almost red. Lastly, when the salt
is grown cold, keep it in glass vessels well stopped.

The potash of commerce we have already shown to contain a
considerable proportion of foreign salts. By the process directed
by the colleges it is purified from those which are crystallizable ;
and, although it stiU contains muriate of potasfe and silica, it if
sufficiently pure for the purposes of medicine.

The purest carbonate of potash in common use is that ob*
taincd by incinerating the impure super-tartrate of potash, as all
the substances It contains, except the potash, are decomposed by
the heat. The tartaric acid and colouring matter are destroyed,
and part of the carbonic add, which is formed, unites with the
potash.

But this salt, in whatever way obtained, is not strictly en*
titled to the appellation of carbonate $ for it is not saturated
with the acid, or rather it is a mixture of carbonate of potash
and potash, in variable proportions. It is owing to the uncom-
bined potash that it is still deliquescent, and in some degree
caustic* It may be easily saturated, however, with carbonic
acid, by exposing it, in solution, to the contact of the air for a
considerable tune, or by making a stream of carbonic acid gas
pass through a solution of it, or by distilling it with carbonate
of ammonia. M. Curadau has proposed a cheaper mode of sa-
turating potash with carbonic acid. He dissolves the potash ia
a sufficient quantity of boiling water, mixes it with as much dim)
tanners' bark as to make it pretty dry, and then exposes, the
mixture, in a covered crucible, to the heat of a reverterato^y

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HUCUftY SAWWQUTt

furnace for half an hour. By lixiviation and crystallisation the
mixture affords beautiful permanent crystals of carbonate of pott-
ash, la this state it consists of a,bout 49 acid, 40 potash, and
17 water. The saturation with carbonic acid is oae of the best
means of purifying the sub-carbonate of potash, for it alvayt
separates silica from the uooomhiaed alkali*

MEDICAL USE.
Carbonate of potash is frequently employed in medicine, in
conjunction with other articles, particularly for the formation
of saline neutral draughts and mixtures : but it is used also by
itself, in doses from three or four grains to fifteen or twenty ;
and it frequently operates as a powerful diuretic, particularly
when aided by proper dilution.

Watbb oi Prepared Kali. (Aqua Kali Pretpnrati* L.)

Take of prepared kali, one pound ;
Set it in a moist place till it deliquesce, and then strain fit.

Water or Sub-carbonate of Kali. (Aqua Sub-carbonatis
Kali. DO

Take of sub-carbonate of k&li* any quantity ;
Place it in a wide glass funnel, whose throat is obstructed with a
rag. Set this in a cellar, that the salt may deliquesce in the moist
air. Let the solution be caught in a vessel placed under it.

This is the old oleum tartari per deiiouium, and is a solution
of carbonate of potash in a variable quantity of water ; for, by
exposure to the air, the sub-carbonate attracts not only water,
but carbonic acid*

Solution of Sdper.carbonate of Potash. (Aqua Super-
carbonatfs Potass*. £.)
Take of water, ten pounds ;
■ pure carbonate of potash, one ounce :

Dissolve, and expose the solution to a stream of carbonic acid,
arising from

Carbonate of lime in powder,
Sulphuric acid, each three ounces ;
Water, three pounds, gradually and cautiously mixed.
The chemical apparatus invented by Dr. Nooth is well adapted
for this preparation. But, if a larger quantity of the liquor be
required, the apparatus of Dr. lYoulfe is preferable.

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864 sickly B/Ltrwomr*

As toon as the preparation is finished, the liquor ihouM be
drawn off into pint bottles, which are to be well corked, and"
kept m a cool situation, with the head down, or laid en one
side. It should be perfectly transparent, and hate an ackfofous,
not at all alkaline, taste ; and, when poured out of tie bottles,
it should haTe a sparkling appearance.

MEDICAL USE.

In this solution carbonate of potash is combined with excess
of carbonic add, by which means it is better adapted for internal
use, as it is rendered not only more pleasant to the taste, but is
less apt to offend the stomach. Indeed it is the only form in
which we can exhibit potash in sufficient doses, and for a suf-
ficient length of time, to derive much benefit from its use in cal-
culous complaints. It has certainly been frequently of advan-
tage in these affections, but probably only m those instances in
which the stone consists of uric acid, or urate of ammonia; for,
although super-saturated with carbonic acio% yet the annuity of
that acid for potash is so weak, that \t really operates as an alkali.

Six or eight ounces may be taken two or three times a day.
It in general proves powerfully diuretic, and sometimes pro-
duces inebriation. This last effect is ascribed to die carbonic
acid. A common method is to drink some milk after each dose,
or mixed with it, to lessen its violence.

AcEtATED Kali. (Kali Acetatum. L.)

Take of prepared kali, one pound ;
Boil it, with a slow fire, in four or five times its quantity of di.
sglled vinegar ; and, when the effervescence ceases, add, at dif.
farent times, more distilled vinegar, until, one portion of vinegar
being nearly evaporated, the addition of another will excite no
effervescence, which will happen when about twenty pounds of
distilled vinegar are consumed ; afterwards let it be dried slowly.
An impure salt will be left, which is to be melted for a little
while with a slow fire, then dissolved in water, and filtered
through paper.

If the fusion has been rightly performed, the strained liquor
will be colourless ; if otherwise, of a brown colour.

La»ly, evaporate this liquor with a slow fire, in a very shallow
glass vessel, frequently stirring the mass, that the salt may be

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PEICKlY 8ALTWOHT. S65

completely dried, which should be kept io a Teste! closely

The salt ought to be very white, and dissolve wholly, both in
water and spirit of wine, without leaving any feces. If the
salt) although white, should deposit any faeces in spirit of wine,
the solution should be filtered through paper, and the salt again
dried.

This is both a troublesome and expensive preparation ; for,
'When attempted to be made by simply evaporating to dryness,
the salt has always a dark unpleasant colour, which can neither
be removed by repeated solution and crystallization, nor even
by solution in alcohol. It is doubtful to what the colour is
owing. It has been ascribed by some to part of the acetic add
being decomposed by heat during* the exsiccation of the salt i
they accordingly recommend the evaporation to be conducted
very gentry, and the pellicles to be skimmed from the surface of
the liquor as fast as they are formed ; and in this way, they say,
they have procured, at once, a very white salt Others ascribe
it to some foreign matter, which rises in distillation with the
last portions of the acetous acid, and therefore direct, that only
the first portions which come over should be used, or .that the
acetous acid should be distilled with charcoal; while others again
ascribe it to accidental impurities contracted during the opera*
tion, and recommend the utmost attention to cleanliness, and
the use of earthen vessels. To whatever cause it may be owing,
and the second appears to us the most probable, the colour is
most effectually destroyed by fusing the salt. The heat neces-
sary to do this decomposes the colouring matter ; and, on dis-
solving the fused mass in water, and filtering the .solution, we
ind a fine light charcoal on the filter. But this fusion is at-
tended with considerable loss, for part of the acetic acid itself it
decomposed.

The operator must be particularly careful, in melting it, net
to use a greater heat, nor keep it longer liquefied, than what is
absolutely necessary ; a little should be occasionally taken out,
and put into water, and, as soon as it begins to part freely with
its black colour, the whole is to be removed from the fire.

The exsiccation of the solution of the salt, after it has been
fnaed, must be conducted very carefully, as it is exceedingly apt
to be decomposed, which would render a new solution and ex.
aicpttion necessary. The test of its purity, by dissolving it in

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966 PEIOKXT SALTVOtTf

alcohol, ai directed by the London college, if to discover If any
of the acetic acid itself has been decomposed in the operation ;
for the carbonate of potash, which is hi that case formed, is in-
soluble in alcohol.

To spare trouble and expense, attempts here been raado to
prepare acetate of potash with undistilled vinegar, and even with
the residuum of the distillation of acetic acid ; and they hate
. been, to a certain degree, successful : but, as repeated fusion
and crystallisation are necessary to bring the salt to a certain
degree of purity, it does not appear that they were more eeco-
nomical. But if to acetate of potash, prepared with impure vi-
negar, we add a sufficient quantity of sulphuric acid, by distill**
tkm we obtain an acetic acid of great strength, which forms a
beautiful aeetate-of potash' without fusion. Lastly, this salt may
Be prepared by the decomposition of acetates ; for example, of
the acetate of lime by tartrate of potash.

Acetate of potash has a sharp, somewhat pungent, taste. It it
soluble at 60° in • about its own weight of water. It is also so-
luble in alcohol. It is deliquescent. It is decomposed by- the
stronger acids ; by a decoction of tamarinds ; by the sulphates
of soda and of magnesia ; by muriate of ammonia $ by the tar-
trate of soda and potash ; and by some metalline salts. Its acid
is destroyed by a high temperature.

MEDICAL USE.

Acetate of potash, however prepared, provided it be properly
made, is a medicine of great efficacy, and may be so dosed and
managed, as to prove either mildly cathartic, or powerfully din*
retic i lew of the saline deobstruents eqnal it in virtue. The
dose is from half a scrapie to a drachm or two. A simple so-
lution, however, of carbonate of potash in vinegar, without ex*
siccation, is perhaps not inferior, as a medicine, to the more
expensive salt. Two drachms of the. alkali, saturated with vi-
negar, have produced, in hydropic cases, ten or twelve stools,
and a plentiful discharge of urine, without any inconvenience.

Sulphate of Potash, formerly Vithiolateo Tabtab.
(Sulphas Potassae, olira Tartarum Vitriolatuin. £.}

Take of sulphuric acid, diluted with srx 4imes its weight of
water, any quantity ;
fut i^ into a capacious? glesfc vessel, and gradually tfrtfp into K

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rttTCKL? SAtTWORT* 99f

pitre carbonate of potest, dissolved in six times its weigfat of
water, as much a* is suftefent thoroughly to neutralize the acid*
The effervescence being finished, strain -tke Ityior through paper,
and, after evaporation* set It aside to crystallize.

Sulphate of potash may toe also conveniently prepared from the
residuum of die distillation of nitrous acid* by dissolving it kt
warm water, and saturating it with carbonate of potash.

Vjtbiolated Kali. (Kali Vitriolatum. L.)

Take of the salt which remains after the distillation of the
nitrous add, two pounds ;

— — - distilled water, two gallons :
Burn out the superfluous acid with a strong fire in an open ve*»
eel ; then boil it a little while in water ; strata* and set the ft*
quor aside to crystallize.

This salt is very seldom prepared on purpose, as it may be
obtained froth the residuum 6f many other preparations, by
simple solution and crystallization ; for so strong is the affinity
between sulphuric acid and potash, that they scarcely ever meat
without combining to form this salt All the sulphates, except
that of baryta, are decomposed by potash and most of its conv
bhietions 5 and reciprocally, all the compounds of potash are
decomposed by sulphuric acid and most of its combinations ; and
in all these decompositions sulphate of potash is one of the pro-
ducts*

The greatest part of the sulphate of potash of commerce is
obtained from the residuum of the distillation of sulphate of iron
with nitrate of potash by lixiviating it, super-saturating the so*
lution with carbonate of potash, filtering it boiling hot, and al-
lowing it to crystallize. The liquor remaining after the precipi*
tation of magnesia is also a solution of sulphate of potash. It is
also got in considerable quantities from the residuum remaining
in die retort after the distillation of nitrous acid ; and all the
colleges hare given directions for obtaining it in this way. This
residuum generally contains an excess of acid, which converts
part of the sulphate into super-sal phate of potash* The London,
college expel the excess of acid by intense heat, and thus get the
•irbblo of the sulphate ; but, at the same time, convert it into a
-very difficultly soluble mass, while the Edinburgh and Dublin
colleges derive advantage from the excess of acid, by simply sa,
tureHng ft wW» carbonate of potash.

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FBICKLT SAtTWORT,

As the residuum of the distillation of nitrous acid nay not
always be at hand, the Edinburgh college alio give a receipt for
making th» nit, by directly combining its constituents. It
would ha? e been more (economical to hare used a solution of
sulphate of iron in place of sulphuric acid, by which means not
only an equally pure sulphate of potash would have been pro-
cured at less expense, but also a ^try pure carbonate of iron.

Sulphate of potash forms small, transparent, very hard cry*
stals, generally aggregated in crusts, and permanent in the air.
Jt has a bitter taste, is slowly soluble in water, requiring; 16
parts at 60°, and 4 at 212°. It is not soluble in alcohol. It
decrepitates when thrown on lire coals, and melts in a red heat
It consists of 45* add, and 64*8 potash. It is decomposed by
the barytic salts ; by the nitrates and muriates of lime and of
strontia ; by the tartrates partially ; and by the salts of mercury,
silver, and lead.

MEDICAL USE.

Sulphate of potash, in small doses, as a scruple, or half a
drachm, is an useful aperient ; in larger ones, as four or five
drachms, a mild cathartic, which does not pass off so hastily as
the sulphate of soda, and seems to extend its action further.

It is a charming medicine conjoined with rhubarb ; thus a sera,
pie of the powder, a drachm of the tincture, with a scruple and a
half of sulphurated kali, which quickens the action of the latter,
mixed with six drachms of cinnamon and peppermint water,
forms a mild and pleasant opening draught

Sulphas Potass jb cum Sulphure, olim Sal Polychrestus. E.

Take of nitrate of potash in powder,
■ sublimed sulphur, of each equal parts :

Mingle them well together, and inject the mixture, by little and
little at a time, into a red-hot crucible : the deflagration being
over, let the salt cool, after which it is to be put up in a glass
vessel well stopped.

In this process the nitric acid of the nitrate of potash is decom-
posed by the sulphur, which is in part acidified. But the quan-
tity of oxygen contained in the nitric acid is not always sufficient
to acidify the whole sulphur employed ; therefore, part of it re-
mains in the state of sulphureous add, which k probably che-
mically combined with part of the potash in the state of sulphite;
for the whole saline mass formed is more soluble in water than

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FftlCKLT SALTWORT. 269

sulphate of potato. It is crystallixaWe, and, by exposure to the
air, gradually attracts oxygen, and is converted into sulphate
of potash. " In some experiments," says the learned and inge-
nious Dr. Duncan, " which I made to determine the state in
which the sulphur existed in this salt, carefully prepared, K
seemed to be sulphuric acid; for it neither gare out a sulphu-
reous smell on the addition of sulphuric acid, nor was a solution
of it precipitated by adds. In its medical effects and exhibition
it agrees with sulphate of potash.

Oxymubiatic Alkaline Water. (Aqua Alcalina Oxy-
muriatica. D.)

Take of dried muriate of soda, two pounds;
'J - manganese, in powder, one pound ;

water,

sulphuric acid, of each two pounds :

Put into a matrass the muriate of soda and manganese, mixed,
and pour on the water ; then, by means of a proper apparatus,
add gradually, and at different times, the sulphuric acid, and let
the gas evolved pass through a liquor consisting of

Carbonate of kali, four ounces ;

Water, twenty-nine ounces, by measure.
Towards the end of the operation heat the matrass moderately.
The specific gravity of this liquor is 1087.
" This is a solution of the oxymuriate of potash ; for the car-
bonate of potash in the receiver is decomposed by the oxymu*
riatic gas disengaged in the matrass by the action of the sulphuric
acid on the oxide of manganese and muriate of soda. A mixed
sulphate of soda and manganese remains in the retort, while the
oxygen and the muriatic acid, disengaged, unite in their nascent
state, and form oxy muriatic acid, which escapes in the form of

MEDICAL USE.

The oxymuriate of potash was, for a time, much extolled in
the cure of syphilis, especially in the early stage ; yet it is now
rarely, if at all, used. It was also recommended as an oxygen,
'mag remedy in typhis, scarry, and other diseases supposed to
depend on a deficiency of oxygen in the system. It was given hi
i of from five to fifteen grains, three times a day ; and k
i a faU and impartial trial*

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§19 JMUDDKLT lAxTTWOW.

TAjwijdzto Kjlm. (KaliTtrtarizataft. L.)

Take of prepared "kali, one pound ;

■ " *■ ■ crystals of tartar, three pounds ;

— distilled water, boiling, one gallon :
To the salt, dissolved in the water, throw in, gradually, (Vie
crystals of tartar powdered : filter the liquor, when cold, through
paper; and, after due evaporation, by a gentle heat, set it apart
to crystallize.

The tartaric acid is capable of uniting with potash in two pro-
portions, .forming in th$ one instance a neutral, and in the other
an acidulous salt. The latter is an abundant production of na-
ture ; but it is easily converted into the former by saturating it
with potash, or by depriving it of its excess of acid. It is by
the former method that the colleges direct tartrate of potash to
be prepared ; and the process is so simple that it requires little
comment For the sake of epeonomy we should come as near
the point of saturation as possible, but any slight deviation from
It will not be attended with much inconvenience. Indeed, it is,
perhaps, advisable to leave a slight excess of acid, which, forroP
ing a small quantity of very insoluble salt, leaves the remainder
perfectly neutral. The evaporation must be conducted in an
earthen vessel, for iron discolours the salt. It is easily crystal*
liked, and the crystals become moist in the air. It has an un*
pleasant bitter taste. It is soluble in four parts of cold water,
and still more soluble in boiling water, and it is also soluble in
alcohol. It is totally or partially decomposed by all acids. On
this account it is improper to join it with tamarinds, or other
acid fruits, which is too often done in the extemporaneous prac-
tice of those physicians who are fond of mixing different cathar-
tics together, and know little of chemistry ! It is also totally
decomposed by lime, baryta, strontia, and magnesia, and par-
tially by the sulphates of potash, soda, and magnesia, and by
the muriate of ammonia.

MEDICAL U8£.

Id doses of a temple, half a drachm, or a drachm, this aalt
it a mild, cooliag aperient : two or three drtcfcm* commonly
loo#en the belly, sad an oaaee proves pr**y str oagty purg»«r»*
It hm been particularly recommended as a putgatitafor maafaoal
and melancholic patients. It is an useful addition to the p*rga»

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MldtLT iALfWOftf. 071

toes of the re*toow« kind, as It promotes their opefaUon, and at
4* same «Hm terts to correct their griping quality.

Dried Carbonate of Soda. (Carbonas Sodae Siccatum. D.)

Ijguefy, over the fire, crystals of carbonate of soda in a silver
crucible, aad then, increasing the beat, stir the liquefied salt
until, £>y the consuaptiott of tbe water, it become dry. Reduce
it to fine powder, %m keep it ia close teasels*

Carbonate of soda, deprived of its water of crystallisation,
is a rery excellent remedy, for which we are indebted to Dr.
fieddoes : he desires it to be prepared by simply exposing the
pounded crystals before the fire ; which appears to be preferable
to the process directed by the Dublin college, in which much of
die carbonic acid may be expelled. By simple efflorescence cry.
stallised carbonate of soda loses more than half its weight, and
falls down into a ft^e permanent powder* Whenever soda is
prescribed in the form of pills, the effloresced carbonate is, to be
used, as, when made of the crystallized salt, they crack and tall
to pieces by the action of the air upon them.

MEDICAL USE.
Dr. Bcddoes first recommended the powder of effloresced soda,
in calculous complaints, as a substitute for the super-carbonated
alkaline waters, when these produced giddiness, or were too ex-
pensive ; but its use has since been extended much further ; and
it is found to be not only an excellent antacid, but seems almost
to possess specific virtues in affections of the urinary organs.
One or two scruples may be given, in the course of the day, in
the form of powder, or in pills, made up with soap and some
aromatic

Phosphate of Soda. (Phosphas Sodae. E.)

Take of bones burnt to whiteness, and powdered, ten pounds j

sulphuric add, six pounds ;

— — water, nine pounds :
Mix the powder with the sulphuric acid in an earthen vessel ;
then add the water, and mix again : then place the vessel in a
vapour bath, and digest for throe days ; after which dilute the
mas* with nine pounds more of boHing water, and strain die
liquor through a strong tinen cloth, pouring over it boiling
water, in small quantities at a time, until the whole acid be
Washed out. Set by the strained liquor, that the impurities may-

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278 * bigcly «altwq*t.

subside; decasrt the clear solution, aed evapefate it to mm
-pounds. To this liquor, poured from the isapnrkie*, add car-
bonate of soda, dissolved id warm water, until the effervescence
cease. Filter the neutralized liquor, and set it aside to crystal*
lize. To the liquor that remains after the crystals are taken
out, add a little carbonate of soda, if necessary, so as to satiu
rate exactly the phosphoric acid ; and dispose the Kquor, by eva-
poration, to form crystals. Lastly, the crystals are to be kept
in a well closed vessel.

Dub.

Take of burnt bones, in powder, five pounds ;

■ sulphuric acid, three pounds and a half, by weight:

Mix the powder, in an earthen vessel, with the sulphuric acid ;
gradually add five pints of water, and agitate the mixture; digest
for three days, adding, from time to time, more water, to pre-
vent the mass from becoming dry, and continuing the agitation ;
then add five pints of boiling water, and strain through fmen,
pouring on boiling water repeatedly, until all the acid be washed
out. Set aside the strained liquor until the faeces subside, from
which pour it off, and reduce, by evaporation, to one half; then
add of carbonateof soda, dissolved in a sufficient quantity of warm
water, three pounds ten ounces. Filter, and, by alternate eva*
poration and cooling, let it form crystals, which are to be kept
in a well-closed vessel.

If the salt be not sufficiently pure, dissolve and crystallize it
again.

The first part of this process consists in destroying the gela-
tine of the bones by the action of heat When burnt to perfect
whiteness, they retain their form, but become friable, and coo.
aist of phosphate of lime, mixed with a very little carbouate of
lime and carbonate of soda. In performing this part of the pro-
cess, we must take care not to heat the bones to a bright red, as
by it they undergo a kind of semi-fusion, and become less solu-
ble. The complete combustion of the charcoal is facilitated by
the free contact of the air ; we must therefore bring every part,
in succession, to the surface, and break the larger pieces*

In the second j>art of the process the phosphate of lime is
decomposed by the sulphuric acid. This decomposition is, how-
ever, only partial. The sulphuric acid combines with pari of
the lime, and forms insoluble sulphate of lame. The phosphoric
acid separated from that portion of lime, immediately cotobtpet

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PfctCKXY SALTWORT. ^7$

with the rest ef tile phosphate of lime, and forms super-phos-
phate of lime, which is not farther decomposable by sulphuric
add.

The super- phosphate of lime, thus formed, is soluble in water;
bat, as the sulphate of lime, with which it is mixed, concretes
into a very solid mass, it id, in some measure, defended from the.
action of water* On this aceount the Whole mass is directed (o
be digested for three days in rapottr, by which means it is
thoroughly penetrated, and prepared for solution, in the boiling
water, which is afterwards poured on it. It is probably to
render the subsequent solution easier, that Thenard directs the
bone-ashes to be made into a thin paste (bomllie) with water
before the sulphuric acid is added to them.

Having thus got a solution of super-phosphate of lime, it is.
next decomposed by carbonate of soda dissolved in water. This
decomposition, likewise, is only partial, as it deprives the super*
phosphate of lime of its excess of acid only, and reduces it to
the state of phosphate. The phosphate of lime, being insoluble,
is easily separated by filtration, and the phosphate of soda re*
mains in solution.

Mr. Funcke, of Linz, has discovered a stifl more (Economical
and expeditious method. It consists in saturating the excess of.
lime in calcined bones with diluted sulphuric acid, and then dis-
solving the remaining phosphate of lime in nitric acid. To this
solution he adds an equal quantity of sulphate of soda, and then
recovers the nitric acid by distillation. The phosphate of soda
is then separated from ihe sulphate of lime by the affusion of
water and crystallization.

Phosphate of soda crystallizes in rhomboidal prisms, termi-
nated by three-sided pyramids. Its taste resembles that of com*
mon salt. At (HP it is soluble in four parts of water, and at
2l£° in two. It effloresces in the air. By heat it undergoes the
watery fusion, and at last melts into a white mass. It consists,
according to Thenard, of 15 phosphoric acid, 19 soda, and 00
water of crystallization. It is decomposed by ;nost of the salts
having an earthy base.

MEDICAL USE.

• Phosphate of soda was introduced into the practice of physic

by the ingenious Dr. George Pearson of London. It possesses

the same medical qualities as sulphate of soda, and the tartrate

mi potash and sod*, being an excellent purgative, in the quantity

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9H Ftioiar saltwo*? •

of anouw* or te^drachnw; and ^ the peculiar ad vantage ottr
these two salts, of being mu<;h less nauseous than they are. Its
taste is extremely similar to that of common salt; and, when
given in a bason of water«grucl9 or real broth, ma4e without
salt, it is scarcely perceptible by the palate ; and consequently
it is well adapted for patients whose stomachs are delicate, and
who have an antipathy against the other salts* The only objec-
tion to its general nse is the very great difference between Us
price and that of sulphate of soda ; a difference which might cer-
tainly be diminished.

Sulphate op Soda, pokme&ly Glauber's Salt. (Sulphas

8«Ue, olim Sal Glauber!. £.)
Dissolve the acidulous salt which remains after the distillation of
muriatic add in- water; and haying mixed chalk with it, to re-
move the superfluous add, set it aside until the sediment sub-
sides ; then evaporate the liquor decanted from them, and strain
through paper, so that it may crystallize.

Vitkiolated Natron. (Natron Vitriolatum. L.)

Take of the salt which remains after the distillation of mu-
riatic add, two pounds ;

■ distilled water, two pints and a half:

Burn out the superfluous acid with a stropg fire in an open Tea-
sel ; then boil it for a little in water : strain the solution, and
set it by to crystallize.

Sulphate of Soda. (Sulphas Soda. D.)
Dissolve the salt, which remains after the distillation of muriatic
add, in a sufficient quantity of boiling water. Evaporate the
filtered solution, and crystalline the salt by slow refrigeration.

The observations we made respecting the different methods
followed by the colleges for extracting sulphate of potash from
the residuum of the distillation of nitrous acid, apply in the pre-
sent instance, except that the Edinburgh college do not preserve
the superabundant acid, when present, by saturating it with
carbonate of soda, but get rid of it by saturating it with car-
bonate of lime, with which it forms an insoluble sulphate of
lime. In fact, the price of sulphate of soda is so very small,
that it would be no ctconomy to use carbonate of soda to satu-
rate the superabundant aeid.

By far the greatest part of the sulphate of soda is obtained
from manufacturers as a result of processes performed for the

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PRICKLY JALTWOfcT* f J75

sake of other substances, as in the preparation of muriate of
ammonia, oxygenized muriatic acid, &c. It may be ceconorai-
cally obtained fry making into a paste, with a sufficient quantity
of water, eignt parts of barnt gypsum, nVe of clay, and fire of
muriate of soda. This mixture is burnt in a kiln or oren, therf
ground to powder, diffused in a sufficient quantity of water, and,
after being strained, is evaporated and crystallized.

Sulphate of soda crystallizes in six-sided prisms, terminated?
by dihedral sumtaits. The crystals are often irregular, anct
their sides are usually channelled. Their taste is at first salt,
and afterwards disagreeably bitter* They are soluble in 2*67
parts of water at 60°, and in 0*8 at 212°. In the air they efflo-
resce. They undergo the watery fusion, and, in a red heat,
melt They consist of 93-52 sulphuric acid, 18*48 Soda, and
53 water; when dried at 700°, of 56 acid, and 44 soda. It is
decomposed by baryta and potash, and salts containing these
bases, and by toe salts of silver, ntercury, and lead.

MEDICAL USE.
Taken from half an ounce to an ounce, or more, it proves a
mild and useful purgative ; and, in smaller doses, largely diluted*,
a serviceable aperient and diuretic. It is commonly given in
solution, but it may also be given in powder after it has efflo-
resced. In this form the dose must be reduced to one half.

Tartrite of Potash an* Sewj "torherly Rochelle Salt*
(Tartris Potassae et Sods, olim Sal Rupellensis. E.)

It is prepared from the carbonate of soda and super.tartrate of
potash, in the same manner as the tartrate of potash.

Tartarized Natron. (Natron Tartarizatum. L.) Tartrate
of Soda and Kali. (Tartaras Soda et Kali. £.)

Take of carbonate of soda, twenty ounces ;

■ crystals of tartar, in Tery fine powder, two pounds ;

distilled water, boiling, ten pints :

Dissolve the carbonate of soda in the water, and gradually add
the crystals of tartar : filter the liquor through paper ; evaporate,
and set aside to crystallize (by slow cooling, D.).

The tartaric acid, in several instances, is capable of entering
into combination, at the same time, with two bases. In the
present example, the superabundant acid of the super-tartrate of
potash is neutralized with soda, and, in pjace of a mixture of

t 2

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976 PBICKLY SALTWORT.

tartrate of potash and tartrate of soda, each possessing their own
properties, there results a triple salt having peculiar properties.

The tartrate of potash and soda forms large and very regular
crystals, in the form of prisms with eight sides, nearly equal,
which are often divided longitudinally, almost through their
axis. It has a bitter taste. It is soluble in about five parts of
water, and effloresces in the air. It is decomposed by the strong
adds, which combine with the soda, and separate saper-tartrate
of potash, and by baryta and lime. By heat its acid is destroyed.
It consists of 64 tartrate of potash, and 46 tartrate of soda.

MEDICAL USE.

It was introduced into medical practice by M. Seignette, an
apothecary at Rochelle, whose name it long bore. It is still
frequently employed ; and though less agreeable than the phos-
phate of soda, it is much more so than the sulphate of soda. It
is less purgative than these, and must be given in larger doses.

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OFFICINAL SWALLOW-WORT.

ASCLEPIAS VINCETOXICUM.

Class V. Pentandria. Order II. Digynia.

Emzvt. Get. CaAa. NecUtrUs five, ovate, concave from the bottom,
horn-fbaped, and bent inwards.

Spec Ca\*a: Leaves ovate, barbed at the baie : Stem erect t Umbels pro-
liferous.

DESCRIPTION.

Stalks about a foot in height, erect, above green, below pur-
plish. Flowers white, arising in clusters at the axillae of the
leaves. Corolla divided into five segments. Follicles two, ob-
long, one-celled, one-valved. Seeds numerous^ crowned with
pappus. t

HISTORY.

A native of Britain in the north, and cultivated in the gardens.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

It is called Asclepian, from 'AmAiprjeV) iEsculapias, and Tin.
cetoxicum, from vincere to conquer, and rojfixo* , a Greek word
signifying poison. Hence its high reputation when poisons

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278 OFFICINAL 8WA&LOW-WORT.

were so commonly administered; so that Hume mentions in his
Essays, that in one province of Rome 3000 in one year were
tried for this horrid crime ; and the great were very lavish in
rewarding physicians who were supposed to be in possession of
any antidote to poison : — so dreadful is man to man! Hence
the great Boerhaave in recording its virtues says : " Haec radix
dicitnr vino infusa ut hausta venerium expellere, et cavere, ne
assnmptnm venenum multum noceat. Folia in peste, rabie ca.
nina, et omnibus contagiosis morbis susceptis condncit." In re-
mote practice it was employed in the cure of dropsy, and comes
recommended by Paracelsus and Van Helmont; aad in modern
times by Ho Oman, Stahl, and Bcrgius; but it is suspected by
Haller as a dangerous remedy.

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WILD ANGELICA.

ANGELICA SYLVESTRIS.

Ctass V. I*en(andria. Order II. Digynia.
Ement. (SiSN. Char, i^rutf somewhat round, angular, solid : Stifles re-
flexed: Caretta equal : Petals Incurved.
Spet. Char. Leaves equal, ovate-lanceolate, serrate.

DESCRIPTION.
Stalk seteral feet in height. Stem hollow. Leaves pinnated *
pfome serrate, several, ending in an odd one. Flowers in large
umbels. General Involucre wanting. .

HISTORY.

Grows in marshy woods and hedges, flowers in Jane and
July.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

The same as the former, bat in rather a less degree.

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SEA ERYNGO or HOLLY.

ERYNGIUM MARITIMUM.

Cla$s V. Pentandria. Order II. Digynia.
Etssira. Gcw. Char. Flower* capitate : Receptacle pale
Spec. Char. Ltavet radical, somewhat round, plicate, spinous: Heat*
pedunculate: Pale* tricospidate.

DESCRIPTION.

It rises from one to two feet in height The leaves are roundish,
plaited, firm, spiny like those of holly, marked with white re*
ticalated reins, of a pale blueish green colour. The flowers are
of a blue colour, and terminate the branches in round heads.
The calyx consists of fire erect sharp-pointed leares. The co-
rolla is composed of fire petals, which turn inwards. The ger~
men is beset with short hairs.

HISTORY.

It grows abundantly on the sea coasts, and flowers from July
till October.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

The root is mild and mucilaginous, and aromatic in a small
degree. It is a mild balsamic pectoral, and enters as an iogre-

db/VJ

SEA ERYNGO OR HOLLY. 281

dient into what is commonly called mild artificial asses' milk,
which is made thus : —

Mock Asses' Milk.

Take an ounce of hartshorn shavings, put it into a quart of
boiling barley water, boil it down to a pint, add two ounces of
candied eryngo root, and a pint of new milk ; boil it for a quarter
of an hour, and strain it for use.

Another Method. — Boil in three pints of water, till half wasted,
one ounce each, of erjngo root, pearl barley, sago, and rice ;
strain it off, put a table-spoonful of the mixture into a coffee-
cup of boiling milk, so as to render it of the consistence of
cream, and sweeten with loaf or Lisbon sugar to the taste.

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WILD CARROT.

DAUCUS CAROTA.

CfassV. Pentandria. Order II. Digyni a.
EstEMT/ GEit. Char. Corolla subradiate, all biiexual : Corolla rough

with haire.
8pec. Char. Stab hispid : Petal* nerved underneath.

DESCRIPTION.
This plant rises about two feet. Leaves many times pinnate
towards the root, hairy. Umbel composed of several radii,
forming a flat surface on the top, but when the fruit ripens be-
comes concave, and drawn together. The general involucre
consists of several leaves, which are cut into long narrow seg-
ments. The partial is more simple, consisting of strap-shaped
leaflets. The seeds are two, assembled, convex, and covered

with strong hairs.

HISTORY.

It grows wild in meadows' and pastures, and flowers from

June till August.

VIRTUES.

The seeds of this sort of carrot have a warm and not disagree*

able taste, and are esteemed as stomachic and diuretic.

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GARDEN CARROT.

DAUCUS SATIVA.

Clou V. Pentandria. Order II. Digynia.

HISTORY.
This is only a variety of the last, and is the product of colti-
Tation. It is too well known to need description,

MEDICAL USE.

It was not used for any medicinal purpose in this country, till
abdut twenty years ago, when it was discovered that poultices
made of this root grated, and applied to cancerous and old angry
seres, removed their Ttry offensive smell, and mended the dis-
charge* The remarkable effects which these poultices at first
produced, made practitioners for some time believe that they
had discovered a remedy which would cure the cancer : further
experiments, however, taught them, that although such poultices
were of great service in promoting the cure of some foul sores,
yet that they had not sufficient efficacy to cure the cancer ; and
that they only corrected the bad offensive smell, mended a little

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J84 GARDEN CARROT.

the nature of the discharge, and procured ease, bat had not
power to stop its progress.

By the account given by Mr. Gibson, in the fourth Tolnme
of Medical Observations and Inquiries, it should seem that the
efficacy of these poultices, when applied to old sores, is greatly
increased by the patient using freely for drink an infusion of
malt, or wort

The seeds of this sort of carrot are carminative and diuretic*

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GIGANTIC FENNEL.

FERULA ASSAFCETIDA.

Emvxt. Gcic.

side.
Srac. Caaa.

Class V. Pentandria. Order II. Digynia.
Char.' Fruit oval, compreaBo-plane, three striae on each

Leaves alternate, sinuate, obtuse.

DESCRIPTION.

This rises two feet. It abounds with a milky juice. Stem is
erect, simple, straight. Leaves near two feet long, bipionate,
piaufce alternate. Umbels plano-convex, terminal, composed of
many radii. Seeds oval, flat, marked with three longitudinal
lines.

HISTORY.

The plant which furnishes assafoetida is perennial, and a native
of Persia. It has, however, borne fertile seeds in the open air
in the botanical garden of Edinburgh. The gum-resin is pro-
cured from the roots of plants which are at least four years old.
When the leaves begin to decay, the stalk is twisted off, and the
earth removed from about their large tapering roots. The top
of the root is some time afterwards cut off transversely, and forty-
eight hours afterwards the juice which was exuded is scraped off,

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286 GIGANTIC FENNEL.

and a second transverse section is made. This operation is re-
peated until the root be entirely exhausted of juice. After beinf
scrape i off, the juice is exposed to the sun to harden.

It ii brought to us in largo irregular masses, composed of Ya
lious little shining lumps or grains, which are partly of a whitisl
colour, partly reddish, and partly of a violet hue. Those masse
are accounted the best which are clear, of a pale reddish colour
and variegated with a great number of elegant white tears.

Thi- drug has a strong fcetid smell, somewhat like that of gar
lie ; and a bitter5 acrid, biting taste. It loses some of its smel
and strength by keeping, a circumstance to be particularly re
garded in its exhibition.

Neumann got from 1920 parts, 1350 alcoholic extract, aw
afterwards 190 watery; and inversely, 550 watery. The smel
resides entirely in an essential oil, which rises in distillation botl
with alcohol and water. Neumann got more than 60 from 1921
grains.

MEDICAL USE.

It is the most powerful of all the foetid gums, and is a mo*
valuable remedy. It acts as a stimulant, antispasmodic, expec
torant, emmenagogue, and anthelmintic. Its action is quick ant
penetrating.

It is often serviceable,

1. In croup.

2. In dyspepsia, amenorrhea, and chlorosis.

3. In asthma, dyspnoea, and hysteria.

4. In tympanites and worms.
It is exhibited,

1. In substance, ki the form of pills, in doses of from fro
to twenty grains, either alone, or combined with bittn
extracts or purgatives.

2. Dissolved in some simple distilled water.

3. Dissolved in alcohol.

4. In the form of clyster, to the extent ef about iw<
drachms.

PREPARATIONS.

Emulsion of Gum Ammoniac (Lac Ammontaoi. L. D.)

Take of gum ammoniac, two drachms (one drachm, D.);
— distilled water, half a pint (pennyroyal water, eight
ounces, D.):

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G1GAWTIC MNNBL. 8BT

Rub the gnm resin with the water, gradually poured on, until '
it becomes an emulsion.

Emulsion of Assafoctida. (Lac Assaefoetfdae. I,. 13.)

In the same manner may be made an emulsion of flffreftfftHaj
and the rest of the gum resins.

The lac ammoniaci is employed for attenuating tough phlegm,
and promoting expectoration in humoral asthmas, coughs, and
obstructions of the viscera, ft may be given to the quantity of
two spoonfuls twice a day.

It answers the same purpose as assafoetida in substance, and
on some occasions is a more convenient, though a very disagreea-
ble mode of exhibiting it.

Tincture of Assafoetida. (Tinctura Ferula Assafaetidje. E.
Tinctura Assssfeettdae. O* L.)

Take of assafoetida, four ounces ;

alcohol, two pounds and a half, £. (two pints, L.) :

Digest for seven days (six days, L.), and strain through paper.

Dub.

Take of assafoetida, four ounces ;

rectified spirit of wine, two pints ;

water, eight ounces :

Add the spirit to the assafoetida, triturated with the water, and
digest for eight days ; then strain.

This tincture possesses the virtues of the assafoetida itself, and
may be given in doses of from ten drops to fifty or sixty.

Purging Clyster. (Enema Catharticum. D.)

Take of manna, one ounce;
Dissolve in ten ounces, by measure, of

Compound decoction of chamomile; then add of

Oirve oil, one ounce;

Sulphate of magnesia, half an ounce :
Mix them.

Fcetio Enema (Enema Foetidum. D.)

Is made by adding to the former two drachms of the tincture of
assafoetida.

^ These are very useful extemporaneous preparations. In cases
of hysterics aad convulsions the latter it of singular use.

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988 GIGANTIC FENNftU

Opiate Enema.
Take of milk of assafoetida, eight ounces ;

tincture of opium, one drachm :

To be injected at bed-time. This is useful in disorders of the
rectum, which induce insufferable pain.

Foetid Spirit of Volatile Alkali. (Alcohol Ammoniatau
Foetidum. £.)
Take of spirit of ammonia, eight ounces ;

■ assafoetida, half an ounce :

Digest, in a close vessel, twelve hours ; then distil off, with th<
heat of boiling water, eight ounces.

Fcetid Spirit of Ammonia. (Spiritus Ammonia Foetidus. L.]

Take of proof spirit, six pints ;

■ sal ammoniac, one pound ;

assafoetida, four ounces ;

potash, one pound and a half:

Mix them, and draw off, by distillation, fire pints, with a slon
fire.

Volatile spirits, impregnated with different foetids, have beei
usually kept in the shops as anti-hysterics : the ingredient hen
chosen is the best calculated of any for general use. The spin
is pale when newly distilled, but acquires a considerable tingi
by keeping. "The dose is a tea-spoonful in sbme water during
hysterics', and the same to be taken occasionally.

Plaster of Assafgbtida. (Emplastrum Assaefoetidae. £•)
Take of plaster of semi-vitrified oxide of lead,

■ assafoetida, each two parts ;
■ ■ galbanum,

■ yellow wax, each one part :

This plaster is applied to the umbilical region, or orer (hi
whole abdomen, in hysteric cases, and sometimes with gooi
effect.

Pills of Aloes and Assafcetida. (Pilulae Aloes et
foetidae. £.)

Take of socotrine aloes, in powder,

assafcetida,

soap, equal parts :

JPorm them into a mass with mucilage of gum arabic.

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GIGANTIC l^mrBL. 889

These pills, in doses of sttmtr Mi' grains, twice a day, pro*
dnee the most salutary effectfih jdufcl of dyspepsia, attended
with hysteria, flatulency an<J cost|rta$£ '• ,

Compound Pills o^Atf riftftfar ' (^laTAssefoetidae Com.
posit*. E.) CoMPbojTtt Prtfa^OF BtftQcw* " tfPilute Myrrhae
Composite. D.)

Takeofa^cettia, * '\ ^

vgatnarfttti, 4 -'

— — irjrrra,' each eight p^ (oqd tfuaet^ £.)>

ie«^ oU of^Mb^

Beat them into a ntes with simple ijjrup. TnVdoseis ten grains
twice a day in hysteria arid asthn|ft .

' ' PRESfcklMION.

Ifc. Take of milk of assafcetidifc, fae ounces and a half;

— compound spirit df lender, half an ounce;

— compound spirit of ammonia, two drachms :
The dote is two large table spoonfuls in a little water four times
a day ift asthma* '■"'„" [^ \*%' \ [

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■

if. .7 ih;'

LOVAGE-LEAVED BUBON.

BUBON GALBANUM.

Clou V. Pentandria. Order II. Digynia.
Essewt. Geit. Char. Fruit ovate, striate, villous.
Spec. Cbaju Leavu sharply-serrate, rhomboidal, snbtrilobed.

DESCRIPTION.

A shbub rising several tost. Leaves compound, rising from
the sheaths of the stem, subtripinnated. Simple leaves rhomboi-
dal, acute, of a sea-green . colour, veined, irregularly serrate,
at the base entire ; some of the leaves upon the upper branches
are somewhat wedge-shaped. The principal umbel terminates
the stem, composed of numerous radii ; the lateral are few, and
grow upon slender branches* Leaflets of the general involucre
about twelve, narrow, lanceolate, of the partial six, of the same
shape, and spreading. Seeds two, oral, with smooth uneven
surfaces, and marked with three elevated lines.

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LOT AGE-LEAVED BUBON.

»1

HISTORY.

rhis plant is perennial, and grows in Africa. It abounds
b a milky juice, which sometimes exudes from the joints of

old plants, but is- more frequently obtained by cutting them
9ss some inches above the root The juice which flows from
wound soon hardens, and is the gal ban urn which is brought
is from Syria and the Levant.

rhe best sort of gal ban urn consists of pale-coloured pieces,
ut the size of a hazel-nut, which, on being broken, appear
le composed of clear white tears, of a bitterish acrid taste,

a strong peculiar smell. But it most commonly occurs in
lutinated masses, composed of yellowish or reddish and clear
te tears, which may be easily torn asunder, of the consist-
a of firm wax, softening by heat, and becoming brittle by
L, and mixed with seeds and leaves. What is mixed with
1, earth, and other impurities, and is of a brown or blackish
►or, interspersed with no white grains, of a weak smell, and
i consistence always soft, is bad.

ralbanam is almost entirely soluble in water, bnt the solution
lilky ; but neither wine nor vinegar dissolves it perfectly. AU
ol, according to Hagen, has very little action upon it It
ot fusible ; bat furnishes a considerable proportion of essen*

oil when distilled with water. Neumann 'obtained by dl-
ation with water six drachms of oil, besides what remained
Dived in the water. The watery extract amounted to about
e ounces. It was somewhat nauseous, but could not have
i recognised as a preparation of galbanum. From the same
ntity alcohol extracted upwards of nine ounces and a half of
ird brittle insipid inodorous substance (resin?).

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

albanum, medicinally considered, may be said to hold a
ile rank between assafectida and antmoniacum ; but its fee.
ess is very inconsiderable, especially when compared with
former ; it is therefore accounted less antispasmodic, nor is
pposed to affect the bronchial glands so much as to have ex.
oraot powers equal to those of /the iattec : it has the credit,
ever, of being more useful in hysterical disorders, and of
noting and correcting various secretions and uterine dis-
u 2

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LOVAGE-LBAVED BUBOVt

charges. Externally galbanam has been applied to expedite tl
suppuration of indolent tumours, and as a warm plaster.

PREPARATIONS.
Compound Pills or Galbanum. (Pilnlas Galbani Com-

posits. L.)
Take of galbanum,

opoponax,

■ i " ■■ ■ ■ myrrh,

■ ■■ sagapenum, of each one ounce ;

--* assafcetida, half an ounce;

syrup of saffron, as much as is sufficient :

Beat them together.

These pills are designed for anti-hysterics and eunnenagogw
and are rery well calculated for answering those iufcentfoM : hi
a scruple, a scruple, or more, may be taken every night,
oftener*

Tincture of 6albanum. (Tinctura Galbani. L. D.)

Tatke «f galbanum, cut into small pieces, two ounces ;

— proof spirit of wine, twopttts:

Digest with a gentle heat for seven days, and strain.

This tincture, though not so powerful, is less nauseous tk
that of assafatida, and therefore in some cases may be prefei
blew The. dose is from forty to fifty drops in some cold wat
occasionally, to pre? ent hysteria.

Gum Plaster. (Emplastrum Gummosum. E.)

Take of plaster of semi-vitrificd oxide of le*d, eight parts ;

gum ammoniacum,

■ galbanum,

yellow wax, each one part

Plaster or Galbanum* (Emplastrum Galbani. D.)

Take of plaster of litharge, two pounds ;

galbanum, half a pound ;

yellow wax, sliced, four ounces :

Add the plaster and wax to the galbanum, melted, and then n
the whole together, with a moderate heat These plasters, eit
of themselves, or mixed with Burgundy pitch, are spread
leather, and applied over tho chest

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LOYAGE-LEAYED BUBON.

893

Of the same kind is the

Cummin Plaster. (Emplastrura Cnmini. L.)

Take of cummin seeds,

■ caraway seeds,

— bay berries, of each three ounces ;

■ Burgundy pitch, three pounds ;
■ yellow wax, three ounces :

Melt the pitch and wax together, and mix with them the rest of
the ingredients, powdered, and make a plaster.

This plaster has been recommended as a moderately warm
discutient, and is directed by some to be applied to the hypo*
gastric region, for strengthening the viscera, and expelling fla-

PRESCRIPTION.
flt. 1* Take of the compound pills of galbanom, two drachms ;

rust of iroi, four scruples J

syrup of ginger, as muc^ as is sufficient :

Form a mass, which is to be made into forty pills, of which
take four at twelve at noon, and at seven in the evening, every
day, drinking after them half a winerglas* of Port wine. Ex*
cellent it* hysteric affections.

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CORIANDER.

CORIANDRUM.

Class V. Pentandria. Order II. Digynia.
Bisect. Gew. Char. Corolla radiate : Petals inflexo-emarginate : Im*-

iucre anivenal, monophylloos, partial, occupying one half: Frett spbe-

rical.
Spec. Caaa. Fratt globular.

DESCRIPTION.

This plant rises to two feet high* Leaves variously pinnated.
The flowers are white or reddish, and placed on terminal am.
bete. The partial are composed of more radii than the general,
and each one is furnished with an inTolncre of three narrow
leaves, but the general is composed of a single leaflet The fruit
is globular, and divides into two hemispherical conca? e leaves.

HISTORY.

It is a native of the south of Europe, where it is often a
troublesome weed. From being cultivated here, it is often found
wild in the fields.

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COBIANDER. 295

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

Coriander is a warm aromatic seed, and of the same nature,
d used for the same purposes, as caraways. They are di-
eted in the injusum amarum (bitter infusion), and infusum sentUB
rtarizatum (tartarized infusion of senna), with the ?iew, as
lllen observes, of adding warmth to the medicine. u The
eds," says this professor, " infused along with senna more
>werfnlly correct the odour and taste of the medicine than any
her aromatic I have employed; and are equally successful in
tfiattng costivencss, which seuna is very apt to produce.'9

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CREEPING WATER-PARSNIP.

SIUM NODIFLORUM.

CbwY. Pentandria. Order II. Digynia.
Essnrr. Gmr. Cbar. FruU sabovate, striate : Involucre poljphylloa* :

Petals cordate.
Spec. Char. Leaves pinnate : Vmbele axillary , teaiile.

DESCRIPTION.
It rises near a foot in height Leares pinnate, ending in an
odd one, pinnae sawed at the edge, and sessile. Flowers stand
in axillary umbels, composed of six to nine rajs, and an equal
number of partial radii No general inYolncre, the partial con.
sists of fi?e, six, or seren pointed leaflets. Fruit divisible into
two seeds, flat on one side, conrex on the other.

HISTORY.
This plant is perennial, and grows wild in dyers, ditches, and
marshes in England. It flowers in July and August.

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CEEEPlira WATER-PARSNIP.

MEDICAL VIRTUES,

The Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia says of the sium only, " It was
■met Iy alleged to be not only diuretic, but also emmenagogue
1 lit h on trip tic. It is now scarcely employed." Let us not,
werer, hastily discard any one remedy. Our countryman
\y (Synop. p. 213), and Beirie (Diet de la Mat. Med.), re-
amend strongly the sium in cutaneous eruptions ; and the
B learned and ingenious Dr. Withering relates the case of a
nag lady, six years old, who was cured of an obstinate cu-
leou^ disease by taking three large spoonfuls of the juice
ice a day; and I have repeatedly given to adults three or four
aces every morning in similar complaints with the greatest
rant age. It is not nauseous, and children take it readily if
ted with milk. In such quantities it neither affects the head,
> stomach, or the bowels.

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COMMON MASTERWORT.

IMPERATORIA OSTRUTH1UM.

ClauY. Pentandria. Order II. Digynia.
Esskitt. Geh. Chab, Fruit subrotund, compressed, gibbons In the middle

bound at the margin : Petals inflexo-marginate.
Spec Cba*. None, as this is at present the only species.

DESCRIPTION.

This plant rises to two feet. The root is perennial, large
succulent, tapering. The stalk is striated, and round. Tin
leaves are three together, and the terminal leaf is often cut inti
three lobes. These are placed on a long footstalk, which ter
minates in a sheathing covering to the stalk. There is no genera
involucre, the partial is composed of one or two leaves*

HISTORY.

Masterwort may be considered as a native of Scotland, beinf
found there by Mr. Lightfoot. It is frequently cultivated ii
gardens, but the root so produced is greatly inferior to thai
growing in the south of Europe, especially in mountainoni

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COMMON MA8TE&WOKT.

299

&6otfs; hence the shops are supplied with it from the Alps
Pyrenees.

VIRTUES.

?his plant is omitted in our Pharmacopoeias, notwithstanding
boastful name, — u Iniperatoria ob raras et prasstantes facul.
• noniinata fnit,'7 — (Bauhin. Pin. 1. c.) and although Hoff-
m calls it a divine remedy, " rem odium divinum," — Officin.
i. c. 116. Having so few plants accepted, we should be lul-
ling to part with this without further inquiry. Alston says
root is aromatic, and leaves a pungency in the mouth for more
a an hour. Flaller relates, that it is beneficial in diseases of the
st arising from a load of mucus, and of course in the pituitous
una ; and in those diseases arising from defective circulation,
chlorosis and dropsy; and it has succeeded in a quartan agne
n after the cinchona had failed. What is more extraordu
Yi he adds, employed in the form of a clyster it facilitates
turition; the same also when taken inwardly. It expels
rms. A drachm of the root in substance, and a drachm in
ision, is the quantity directed to be taken four times a day*

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ROUGH PARSNIP.

OPOPONAX.
PASTINACA OPOPONAX.

Clou V. PentahJrie* OrSer II. Digynia.
Ewent. G«w . Cmar. Fnit elliptic, compreno-pl&ne : Petal* involate,

entire.
Spec. Char. I«at*f pinnate : Leaflets on the tipper part at the base* at

if cat oat. _

DESCRIPTION.
It rises seven or eight feet The leaves are pinnated, consisting
of several pairs of pinne, which are oblong, serrated, veined,
and as if unformed at the base. The flowers are small, of a yeU
lowish colour, and terminate the stem and branches in umbels.
No involucres, either general or partial.

HISTORY.
This plant is perennial, and grows wild in the south of En*

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BOUGH PARSNIP.

901

pe ; but the gam resin, which is said to be obtained by wound*
I die stalk or root, is brought Iron the Le? ant and East In*

«, sometimes in round drops or tears, but more commonly in
Bgular lumps, of a reddish yellow colour on the outside, with
Kks of white, inwardly of a paler colour, and frequently ya-
gated with large white pieces. It has a peculiar strong smell,
i a bitter, acrid, somewhat nauseous, taste.
Neumann got from 480 parts> 166 alcoholic, and afterwards
0 watery extract; and inversely, 226 watery, and 60 alco-
Uc. Both the water and alcohol distilled from it were im.
ignated with its flavour. It forms a milky solution with wa-
, and yields a little essential oil on distillation.
Opoponax has been long employed by physicians, and esteemed
■ its attenuating, deobstrucnt, and aperient virtues; but as it
commonly prescribed in combination with other medicines,
se qualities are by no means ascertained, nor do its sensible
atities indicate it to be a medicine of much power. Dr. Cullen
isses it with tho antispasmodics j it is, howerer, less foetid than
Ibannm, though more so than ammoniacum, and therefore
ly be supposed to have some affinity to an union of these two.
has commonly been given in hypochondriacal affections, vis-
ral obstructions, menstrual suppressions, and asthmas, eepe»
illy when connected with a phlegmatic habit of bodj. It an.
■s into the following composition, Compound Pills or Gal-
mum. (Pilulae Galbani Composite. L.)— Vide p. 29*.

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CARAWAYS.

, CARUM CARUI.

Ciatt V. Pentandria. Order II. Monogynia.
Smart. Getf . Char. FrwY ovato-oblODg, striate : Involucre raoDophyl-
loui; Petal* keeled, iaiexo-eaiargiiiate.

DESCRIPTION.

It rises to two or three feet The leaves are long, and sub*
divide into numerous pinnule or segments) which are narrow,
pointed, of a dark green colour. The flowers grow in terminal
umbels. It has a terminal and partial umbel. The seeds are
two, naked, brown, striated, and of an oblong shape.

HISTORY.

This plant is a native of Britain, and grows in meadows and
low grounds ; but the seeds of the cultivated plant are said to
be larger, more oily, and of a more agreeable flavour than those
of the wild plant, which are hot and acrid. It flowers in May
and June.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

The caraway is a pleasant, hot, aromatic seed, abounding
with an essential oil, and containing gummy and resinous parts.

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CARAWAYS.

303

its draw a tincture that has the taste, but Dot a veiy strong
irar; and water extracts a tincture that has a strong flavour,
but a weak taste. They are principally used as stomachic
carminative; and are frequently mixed with infusions of
ia, to correct its griping quality.

"here is an essential oil ordered to be drawn from them, which
iron from three or four to ten drops.

ind we have an aq. seminum carui drawn with spirits, which
f be used from a drachm to half an ounce, as a cordial spu
OQ8 water.

PREPARATION.

Spirit of Caraway. (Spiritus Cari Carui. E.)

'ake of caraway seeds, bruised, half a pound ;

— — diluted alcohol, nine poinds :

derate for two days in a close vessel ; then ponr on as much

or as will prevent empyreuma^ and draw pfff by distillation,

j pounds.

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SMALL BURNET SAXIFRAGE.

PIMPINELLA.

Class \. Pentandria. Order II. Digynia.
Essemt. Gbk. Cha». Frvit ovate-oblong: Petal* inflexed: Stigmata u

globose.
Spec. Char. Leave* pinnate : Leaflet* radical subrotund, opper narrow

DESCRIPTION.
It rises a foot in height The leaves are variously shaped, pi
Dated. The flowers stand upon terminal umbels. There is 1
involucre. The seeds are naked, furrowed, egg-shaped.
HISTORY.

It is a native of this country, and grows in dry meadows ai
pastures. The flowers appear in August and September.
MEDICAL VIRTUES.

Bergius states the virtues of this root to be resolvent, diaph<
retic, stomachic, and diuretic It is recommended by sevei
writers as a stomachic, and in all cases where pituitous humov
are thought to prevail, as asthmas, dropsies, catarrhal coogl
hoarsenesses, and what has been called angina serosa; and 1
Hoffmann it is said to be an excellent emmenagogue. In tl
way of gargle it has been employed for dissolving viscid mnci
and to stimulate the tongue when that organ becomes paralytj
Chewing the root, by drawing off" the saliva from the gums, h
mediately relieves the tooth-ach. The dose inwardly is a sera]
in substance, and in infusion two drachms.

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ANISE.

PIMPINELLA ANISUM.

Class I. Pentandria. Order II. Digynia.
mbjtt. Gen ..Ca*a. Fruit ovate-oblong : Petals in flexed : Stigmata tub-
globular.
pec. Cbar. Leaves pinnated, leaflets radical sobrotand, above linear.

DESCRIPTION.

L his plant rises to a foot in height. The leaves are on the
pper part of the stem divided into narrow pinnated segments,
at at the bottom roundish, separated into three lobes, some-
mes fires, standing on long footstalks. The flowers are small,
hite, and placed in terminal umbels. No involucres.

HI8TORY.

Anise is an annual umbelliferous plant, growing wild in Crete,
pria, and other places of the cast. It is cultivated in some
irts of France, Germany, and Spain, and may be raised also
i England ; the seeds brought from Spain, which are smaller
lao the others, are preferred.

Aniseeds have an aromatic smell, and a pleasant warm taste,
ttbmpanied with a degree of sweetness. Water extracts very
ttle of their flavour ; rectified spirit the whole.

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306

ANISE.

PREPARATIONS.
Essential Oil of Anise. (Oleum Volatile Pimpinelle AnisL)

TJiis, like other essential oils, is obtained by distillation with
an alembic, and a large refrigeratory. Water must be added to
the materials in sufficient quantity to prevent their burning, and
to macerate them before the distillation.

The water which comes over with the oil during the distilla-
tion ought to be kept for use.

Anise is a seed which has an aromatic smell and a pleasant,
warm, sweetish taste ; it has been used as a carminative, a cor.
dial, and stomachic, and for strengthening the viscera : the es-
sential oil is amongst the mildest of this kind we have, and may
be given from three to twenty drops, though common practice
seldom goes beyond eight or ten.

Compound Spirit of Aniseed. (Spiritus Anisi Com-
positus. L. D.)
Take of aniseed,

angelica seed, of each, bruised, half a pound ;

proof spirit, one gallon ;

water, sufficient to prevent empyreuma :

Draw off one gallon by distillation.

This compound spirit, like the simple ones, is an agreeable
cordial ; indeed they are too agreeable, for by some they are so
often resorted to, on the slightest sensation of flatulence in the
stomach, that their use is attended with all the pernicious con-
sequences of dram-drinking. It may be added to purgatives, to
hinder their producing colicy pains in the bowels, in the dose of
from one to two drachms, or taken alone in some water to expel
flatulency. Hence Hoffman calls these seeds Solamen intesti-

hum.

Aniseed Water. (Aqua Anethi.)

Take of bruised dill-seeds, a pound ;

of water, as much as is sufficient to prevent burning:

Distil off a gallon.

This is given to infants to expel wind, and often mixed with
their food: but such cordials begun early often induce an en-
largement of the liver, and dreadful atrophy. The common
cause of wind is a diseased state of the bile, to be obviated by a
little magnesia, with a very small quantity of rhubarb, to be
taken night and morning.

This is said to augment in women the quantity of milk, and
restore it when it has disappeared.

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COMMON PARSLEY.

APIUM PETROSEUNUM.

Class V. Pcntandria. Order II. Digynla.
Iment. Gen. Char. Fruit ovate, striate : General Involucre monophyl-
lons: Petals equal,
pac. Ca*ft. Leaves canline linear: Partial Involucre six or eight leaflets.

DESCRIPTION.
It rises two feet in height The radical leaves are without
ootstalks, compound, p;"*ntri in threes. The leaflets are
mooth, veined, divided into three lobes, and notched at the
nargin. The flowers arc small, of a yellow colour, placed on
ertninal umbels. The leaves of the general involucre vary from
ttlture. Of the partial usually six or eight It is best distin-
guished from all other umbelliferous plants by means of the
tneU. It may be discriminated from the fool's parsley by the
atter having a partial involucre consisting of three long leaflets*
HISTORY.

It is a native of the south of Europe, and is naturalized to
his climate, and very generally cultivated for culinary purposes.
MEDICAL VIRTUES.

The root is said to be diuretic, and decoctions of it are often
ised in cases of gravel, and where there is a scarcity or difficulty
n passing water. The seeds are slightly aromatic, and hence,
sarminative ; but the whole plant merits rather to be mentioned
u a en Unary than a medicinal plant

x %

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SWEET FENNEL.

ANETHUM GRAVEOLENS.

CUui V. Pentandria. Order II. Digynia.
Emcmt. Gen. Char. Fruit tubovate, com pressed, striate :

late, entire.
Spec. Char. Fruit ovate.

Petmb invo-

DESCRIPTION.

It rises four feet The leaves stand upon sheathy footstalks,
and are doubly pinnate, pinnae linear pointed* Flowers on ter-
minal umbels, of a pale yellow. No general or partial invo-
lucre. Seeds two, orate, flat, striated, and surrounded with a
membranous margin.

HISTORY.

This plant is a native of Spain and Portugal, and is perfectly
naturalized to this climate. It flowers in June and July.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

The seeds and the plant itself were formerly much used in
medicine, and from the time of Dioscoridcs have been esteemed

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SWEET FENNEL. 309

for their carminative and hypnotic powers, and therefore hare
been recommended in flatulent colics, and certain dyspeptic
lymptoms proceeding from a laxity of the stomach. They are
also said to be more effectual than the other seeds of this class
in promoting the secretion of milk. At this time, however, the
seeds of dill are seldom employed, though a simple distilled water
prepared from them is directed both by the London and Edin.
burgh Pharmacopoeias.

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FINE-LEAVED WATER-HEMLOCK.

PHELLANDOIUM AQUATICUM.

CUut V. Pentandria. Order II. Digynia.
Eisner. 'Gew. Char. Flosculcs of the disk less; Fruit ovate, smooch.

crowned by a perianth and pist ilium.
Spec. Char. Ramifications of the Uaoet diverging.

DESCRIPTION.

It rises two feet in height. The leaves are triply pinnated, ra-
mifying at right angles. Leaflets irregularly pinnatifid. Leaves
under the water filiform , Flowers on terminal umbels* Ge-
neral umbel none. Partial of seven leaves. Flowers in the
eentre of each umbel smaller than the outer ones. Fruit ovate,
smooth, divisible into two parts or seeds.

HISTORY.

This plant grows in rivers, ditches, and pools, and flowers
in June or July. It is generally supposed to possess deleterious
qualities. Horses, on eating it, are said to become paralytic ;
but this effect should not be ascribed to the phellandrium, but
to an insect which resides within its stalks, viz. the Curcuti*
farapUcHcu$

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FINE-LEAVED WATER-HEMLOCK.

311

MfcDICAL VIRTUES.

The feeds of the plant, however, according to Dr. Lange,
hen taken in large doses, produce a remarkable sensation of
eight in the head, accompanied with giddiness, intoxication,
c, and therefore may be deemed capable <jf proving an active
edicine. They are oblong, striated, of a greenish yellow, about
e size of those of dill, and manifesting an aromatic acrid taste,
iproaching nearly to that of the seeds of lovage. Distilled with
iter they yield an essential oil, of a pale yellow colour, and

a strong penetrating smell. One pound of the seeds affords
t ounce of watery extract, but nearly double this quantity of
irituons extract, of which more than three drachms consists of
iin.

Pliny states the seeds of phellandrium to be an efficacious me.
ane in calculous complaints, and disorders of the bladder;
d in this opinion he is followed by Dodonaeus, who mentions
sm also as possessing diuretic and emmenagogue powers. But
. these authorities little reliance is to be placed ; so that the
icacy of this plant rests chiefly on the testimonies of Ernstin.
is and Lange, by whom various cases of its successful use are
blished, especially in wounds and inveterate ulcers of different
ids, and even in cancers ; also in phthisis pulmonalis, asthma,
spepsia, intermittent fevers, &c.

About two scruples of the seed, two or three times a day,
is the ordinary dose given.

Though the disorders here noticed are so multifarious and dis-
lilar as to afford no satisfactory evidence of the medicinal qua-
es of these seeds, yet they appear to us well deserving of
Iher investigation/ according io the maxim — " Ubi virus ibi
tus."

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HEMLOCK WATER-DROPWORT.

(ENANTHE CROCATA.

Class V. Pe ntandria. Order II. Digynia.
Essewt. Gen. Char. Flosrules unequal : those in the disk sessile, sterile:

Fruit crowned by the calyx and pistillun.
Spec. Char. Leaves all multifid, obtuse, nearly equal.

■^■^"^-^- •

DESCRIPTION,
It rises two or three feet in height. Leaves are simple, and
doubly pinnate* Smaller pinnae wedge-shaped, jagged at the
edges, larger pinnae three- lobed, indented. Flowers in umbels
spreading, somewhat globular. No general involucre. Partial
composed of many leaves. Fruit oblong, striated, divisible into
two parts, which are convex on one side and flat on the other.

HISTORY.

It is a native of England, and grows on the banks of rivers
and in ditches ; flowers in June and July.

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HEMLOCK WATER-DROPWORT.

313

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

We are sorry we have to record it rather as a powerful poison
lan as medicine. Its root, which is not unpleasant to the taste,
i," by Dr. Poultney, esteemed to be the most deleterious of all
be vegetables which this country produces.

Mr. Howell, surgeon at Haverfordwest, relates, that " eleven
Vench prisoners had the liberty of walking in and about the
own of Pembroke ; three of them, being in the fields a little
efore noon, dug up a large quautity of this plant, which they
ook to be wild celery, to eat with their bread and butter for
inner. After washing it, they all three ate, or rather tasted,
f the roots. As they were entering the town, without any
irevious notice of sickness at the stomach, or disorder in the
lead, one of them was seized with convulsions. The other two
an home, and sent a surgeon to him. The surgeon endeavoured
irst to bleed, and* {hen to vomit him ; but those endeavours were
ruitless, and he died presently. Ignorant of the cause of their
comrade's death, and of their own danger, they gave of these
oots to the other eight prisoners, who all ate some of them
nth their dinner. A few minutes afterwards the remaining two,
rho gathered the plants, were seized in the same manner as the
irst ; of which one died ; the other was bled, and a vomit with
[reat difficulty forced down, on account of his jaws being as it
were locked together. This operated, and he recovered, but
was some time affected with dizziness in his head, though not
ick or the least disordered in his stomach. The other eight,
>eing bled and vomited immediately, were soon well."

At Clonmell, in Ireland, eight boys, mistaking this plant for
water-parsnip, ate plentifully of its roots : about four or five
lours after, the eldest boy became suddenly convulsed, and
lied ; and before the next morning four of the other boys died
n a similar manner. Of the other three, one was maniacal se-
veral hours, another lost his hair and nails, but the third escaped
unhurt. ,

Stalpaart vander Wiel mentions two eases of the fatal effects
of this root ; these, however, were attended with great heat in
the throat and stomach, sickness, vertigo, and purging. They
both died in the course of two or three honrs after eating the
root.
Allen, in his Synopsis Medidtue, also relates that four chil-

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314

HEWjOCK water-dropwobt.

dren suffered greatly by eating this poison. In these cases great
agony was experienced before the convulsions supervened ; to.
mi tings likewise came on, which were encouraged by large
draughts of oil and warm water, to which their recovery is
ascribed.

The late sir William Watson, who refers to the instances here
cited, also says that a Dutchman was poisoned by the leaves of
the plant boiled in pottage.

It appears from various authorities that most brute animals
are not less affected by this poison than man ; and Mr. Light-
foot informs us, that a spoonful of the juice of this plant given
to a dog, rendered him sick and stupid ; but a goat was observed
to eat the plant with impunity.

The great virulence of this plant has not, however, prevented
it from being taken medicinally. In a letter from Dr. Ponltney
to sir William Watson, we are told that a severe and inveterate
cutaneous disorder was cured by the juice of the root, though
not without exciting the most alarming symptoms. Taken in
the dose of a spoonful, in two hours afterwards the head was
affected in a very extraordinary manner, followed with violent
sickness and vomiting, cold sweats and rigors ; but this did not
deter the patient from continuing the medicine, in somewhat less
doses, till it effected a cure.

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WATER HEMLOCK.

CICUTA VIROSA.

Class V. Pentandria. Order II. Digynia.
kkt. Get. Char. Fruit sabdvate, sulcate.
c. Cha*^ Umbels terminal : Petal* margiaale, obtve.

DESCRIPTION.

[ses four feet in height. Leaves pinnated; leaflets usually
ced in threes, spear-shaped, serrate, serratures white at the
int. Flowers in large compact umbels. Flowers all uni-
m, fertile. Fruit egg-shaped, divisible into two seeds.

HISTORY.

I*his poisonous plant grows on the borders of pools and rivers,
1 flowers in July and August.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

It appears from Bergius, that water-hemlock, in its dried
te, may be taken in a considerable quantity without producing

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316

WATER HEMLOCK.

any bad effect ; but of the fatal effects of its root when fresh,
numerous instances are recorded. Of two boys and six girls,
who' ate of this root for that of parsnip, the greater part died
in a short time afterwards, those only escaping who were en.
abled to discharge it by vomiting. The symptoms it produced
were intoxication, vertigo, great heat and pain in the stomach,
convulsions, and even epilepsy, distortions of the eyes, vomit-
ing or retching, a discharge of blood from the ears, swelling of
the abdomen, hiccup, spasms, &c. In the case of a man who
had eaten of this poisonous root, we are told the symptoms were
vertigo, succeeded by delirium, with constant heat at the sto-
mach-, and inextinguishable thirst : these symptoms were of long
continuance, and followed by an erysipelatous torn oar of the
neck.

To cite all the instances related of the deleterious effects of
this root would be unnecessary, as those here stated from Wepfer
will sufficiently show the train of symptoms which usually follow
the taking of this poison. It may be observed, however, that
in most of the cases in which it proved fatal, the patients died
in a convulsed or epileptic state, and that whenever the root
was rejected by vomiting, only a slight degree of stupefaction
was for a few hours experienced.

On examination of the bodies of those who perished by eating
this root, we are told that the stomach and intestines were dis-
covered to be inflamed, and even in a gangrenous or eroded
state, and the blood-vessels of the brain much distended.

To several brutes this plaut has likewise proved mortal ; but
the facts upon this point are somewhat vague and various.
Though said to be a fatal poison to cows, it is eaten with im-
punity by goats and sheep.

As an internal medicine the Cicuta aquatica is universally su-
perseded by the common hemlock ; but externally employed iu
the way of a ponltice, it is said to afford relief in various fixed
pains, especially those of the rheumatic and arthritic kind.

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COMMON HEMLOCK.

CONIUM MACULAtUM.

Clan V. Pentandria. Order II. Digynia.
iknt. Gbn. Char. Involucella dimidiate, sublripbyUous : Fruit sub-
;lobalar, bavin; fiyc stria?, crenate on both sides.

DESCRIPTION.

he root is biennial, tapering, sometimes forked, eight or tea
ihes long, and about the thickness of a finger : the stalk is
b or six feet high, round, shining, beset with brown and
rpttsh specks ; towards the top branched and striated ; near
i bottom about three inches in circumference, and covered
th a blueish exudation, appearing like a fine powder: the
rer leaves are very large, tri pinnated, of a shining green co-
ir, standing upon long, striated, concare footstalks, which
Dceed from the joints of the stem; the upper and smaller
ves are bipinoatcd, and placed at the divisions of the branches :

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318

COMMON HEMLOCK.

the flowers are produced in umbels, which are both universal and
partial, and composed of several striated radii. The universal
involucrum consists of fire or seven leaves, these are lanceolated,
whitish at the margin, and bent downwards ; the partial involu-
crum is composed of three or four ieaves, which are placed on
the outer side of the radial stalk ; the petals are fire, oval,
white, and curl inwards at their points; the stamina are five,
white, about the length of the corolla, and crowned with whitish
anthere ; the styles are two, filiform, inclining outwards, and
terminated by round stigmata; the fruit is oval, striated, con-
sisting of two irregularly hemispherical striated brownish seeds.

The hemlock is obviously distinguished from ouf other um-
belliferous plants by its large and spotted stalk, by the dark and
shining green colour of its bottom leaves, and particularly by
their disagreeable smell when bruised J and which, according to
Stoerck, resenibles that of mice. — Curt. Flor. Lond. The Chae-
rophyllum bulbostim has a spotted stem, but its swelled joints,
and rough seeife', • distinguish it from the hemlock.

HISTORY.

t* ■

It is common near waste grounds and dunghills, and flowers

in July.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

This plant, like the former, is a most deadly poison, and the
Athenians often made those condemned to death drink a cup-full
of its juice to put an end to life. The ancients, however, be-
lieved it to be a good discuticnt and anodyne external applica-
tion, and used it both in fomentations and poultices ; and it has
been continued to be employed as an external application to this
day.

Ray and others mention the powder of the root of the hero-
lock as an efficacious remedy in scirrhi of the liver and spleen ;
but none of the modern physicians were bold enough to give
either it, or any of its preparations, as a medicine, till in the
year 1760, that Dr. Stoerck, of Vienna, published a treatise in
which he mentions his having cured a number of cancers by
means of an extract made with the juice of the leaves, which he
gave from a few grains to a drachm or more iu the day.

Immediately on the arrival of this publication in Great Bri-
tain, large quantities of the extract, made according to Dr.
StberckVs directions, were prepared by private apothecaries, and
at most hospitals within the kingdom ; and practitioners con-

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GOMKdK HEMLOCK.

319

ratulated each other on a remedy for this most terrible distemper
tving been at last discovered. But, alas ! how were they dis-
>pointed wheo they found, after the cicuta had been adoii*
Btered to many hundreds of unhappy patients, not one true
ocer had been cured by any practitioner whatever.
Many hundred pounds weight of this extract were made, and
fen to patients labouring under various disorders, in the space
the last twenty-five years. " The following are the principal
►serrations that I made," says Dr. Donald Monro, u on the
feets of this medicine during that period.
" I did not see, nor hear, of its having cured one true cancer,
her occult or ulcerated. It sometimes alleviated the pain, and
some few cases it was imagined to have lessened the tumor a
tfe, on first using ; but this effect soon ceased, and the tumor
ntinued to increase as before. In some few cases of ulcerated
ncers it mended the discharge, and changed it from a thin
torous state, to' a thicker consistence, like to that which we
H laudable pus ; but, notwithstanding, the disorder increased,
d at last terminated fatally. The physicians and surgeons of
s other hospitals in London have often told me that they had
ide the same observations on the use of the hemlock in can*
rou* disorders as I had.

" The cicuta produced better effects in sctophulous than in the
ocerous disorders ; some few very small tumors were thought
have been discussed by its use ; but I never saw it remove any
mor that was large and hard, though given in large quantity
r weeks or months daily. In scrophnloos sores of the extre-
mes it often mended the discharge when it was continued for
me time. In many scrophulous cases it had a much better
ect when it was administered along with the bark, than when
was given by itself; many of the sores came to a better state
in I ever expected to have seen them ; and in three cases,
lere there was reason to suspect that the boues were affected,
e sores healed by continuing the use of these two medicines
r four or five months. I tried the cicuta and bark separately
many such cases, but neither of them produced such good
ects as when they were given at the same time.
"The discharge from some sore legs, and from some other foul
cers, was mended by the patient's taking freely of this ex.
let, and it was thought to assist the operation of the bark
d of mercury in some cases.

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380 COMMON HEMLOCK.

" It was given to a Dumber of out-patients labouring under the
chincough, but it did not produce such good effects as were ex-
pected.

The observations on the radons success of the cicuta in Ire-
land, gi?en by the late Dr. Rutty, in the third volume of Me-
dical Observations and Inquiries, agree in most respects with
what is here mentioned ; only that he relates a case where a
sore on the upper part of the sternum, which was suspected to
hare been cancerous, was cured by taking freely of the cicuta.
In the same volume of Observations the late Dr. Fothergill men-
tions three cases : 1. Of a gentleman who laboured under a jerj
painful ulcer of the nose, which had spread and corroded a great
part of the integumeuts of one of the eyelids. 2. Of another
gentlemen who bad a violent pain on one side of his face, about
the antrum highmorianum. 3. Of a lady who had large angry
pimples on her face, and a number of small steatomatous tumors
on her scalp, and at the same time laboured uuder the fluor albas;
who all three received great benefit from the use of the cicuta.
And he says that it cured a rheumatic pain in the arm, which
had continued long; and that he had seen it of service where
there were symptoms of tubercles beginning to form in the lungs.

Dr. Bergius mentions " that it has no effect in curing the true
cancer, but that it has been of service in scrophulous complaints,
and in venereal, when joined with mercury ; and that it is some-
times of use in cutaneous disorders.

" It is right to begin with giving small quantities of this ex-
tract, and to increase the dose gradually ; I have generally be.
gun with giving four or five grains to an adult three or four
times in the day, and gradually increased the dose to a scruple;
I seldom exceeded a drachm in the day, except in a few cases,
where I gave it the length of two ; though I have seen some prac-
titioners give half an ounce in that time ;vand in one case or two
I saw above an ounce of it given in the twenty-four hours.

" In some few instances I imagined that it hurt the general
health of the patients, and iu one or two cases that it hastened,
death ; though the use of the cicuta had been laid aside some
time before the patients died, and they sunk so gradually as to
leave it mere matter of conjecture what had been the cause of
their death.19

Some practitioners, however, speak more favourably of this
plant* Dr. Withering says : " Let the leaves be gathered about

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COMMON HEMLOCK.

aei

he end of June, when the plant is in flower. Pick off the little
tares, and throw away the leafstalks. Dry these selected litti*
eaves in at hot sun, or in a tin dripping*pan or pewter dish be*
ore the fire. Preserve them in bags made of strong brown
taper; or powder them, and keep the powder in glass phials,
a a drawer or something that will exclude the light) for. the
ight soon dissipates the beautiful green colour, and with its co-
aur the medicine loses its efficacy. From fifteen to tweoty*five
rains of this powder may be taken twice or thrice a day. I
ave founc} it particularly useful in chronic rheumatisms, and
Iso in many of those diseases which are usually supposed to
rise from acrimony. The nature of this book does hot allow
linnte details of the virtues of plants, but I can assure the me-
ical practitioner that this is well worth his attention. M— Bot
irrang. 2d ed. p. 280. And the respectable Haller says, " it
as often succeeded where other remedies have failed, and if It
as not always succeeded in cancer, it has always allayed the
istress of that most afflicting disorder/'

PREPARATIONS.
Inspissated Juice of Hemlock. (Succus Cicutse' Spissatus.)

Express the leaves of hemlock, gathered when the flowers are
ist appearing, and allow the juice to stand six hours, until the
eces subside ; then reduce the decanted juice to the thickness
fan extract with a moderate heat.

This is a very convenient form for the exhibition of those sub.
ances which are sufficiently succulent to afford a juice by ex.
ression, and whose virtues do not reside in any very volatile
atter. By ins pis sat ion the bulk of the requisite dose is very
uch diminished ; they are reduced to a form convenient for
aking up into pills ; and they are much less apt to spoil than
ie simple expressed juices. The mode of their preparation is
>t yet, however^ reduced to fixed principles. Some direct the
tices to be inspissated as soon as they are expressed ; others
low them previously to undergo a slight degree of ferments*.
>n ; some defence them before they proceed to inspissate
era ; and, lastly, the nature of the soil, of the season, and many
her circumstances, must materially alter the quantity or na»
re of the product. In moist years Baume got from thirty
mnds of elder berries four or five pounds of inspissated juice,
id in dry years only two, or two and a half. From hemlock he

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382

COMMON HEMLOCK.

got, in October 1769, 7*5 per cent, of inspissated juice, and in
May of the same year only 3*7 ; on the contrary, in August
1768, 4 per cent.,, and in May 1770, 6*5 ; but, in general, the
product in the autumn months was die greatest.

Halier disapproTes of gathering the hemlock in the autumn,
when its virtues are greatly extracted by the seeds, and says it
has most efficacy in the spring. This observation merits all the
attention such authority deserves.

PRESCRIPTIONS.

$. 1. Take of the inspissated juice of hemlock, three grains;
— — compound powder of tragacanth, one drachm :
Rub them together, and divide into six equal parts, of which
take one twice a day at first, then four times a day, gradually
' increasing the dose. This is to be given in inward and outward
cancers, chronic rheumatism, exhausting by pain, dry irritating
cough, vomica : and half the dose to children in the last stage of
the h'ooping cough, accompanied with a hectic look, and much
fever ; but not in any mild case of this disease, as it seldom
proves under such circumstances fatal, unless injudiciously
treated with this poison,
ty. 2. Take of the inspissated juice of hemlock, one drachm ;
"■■ the dried herb hemlock, in powder, as much

as is sufficient to produce a mass to form pills :
Make into thirty pills, of which take one or more twice a day,
gradually increasing them each day as may be required. Em-
ployed in the same diseases as the last ; also in cases of high scor-
butic acrimony.
Jfc. 3. Take of the dried herb hemlock,

■ chamomile flowers, of each one ounce ;

— boiling water, a pint:

Boil for ten minutes, and add to the strained juice linseed meal,
as much as may be sufficient to make a cataplasm, to be applied
warm to the affected part, passing over it a little oil, and re.
mewed twice a day. For an open cancer.

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ELDER.

SAMBUCUS NIGRA.

CUua V. Pentandria. Order III, Trigynia.
iett. Got. Char. Calyx five- parted: CoroU* five-deft: Berry three*
ceiled.
EC. Cha*. Cyme fire-partite : Leave* pinnate : Stem arboreous.

DESCRIPTION,
rises to the height of a small tree. It is much branched to*
irds the top. The young shoots are fnll of pith, the old ones
thout any. The leaves are pinnated, consisting of two or
ree pair of pinnae, with an odd one at the end. The flowers
5 sweet-smeUing, white, and produced on large flat nmbels or
isters. These do not proceed from a regular centre, there-
re it only approximates to the umbelliferous tribe. The fruit is
'ound succulent berry, of a blackish purple colour, and con*
ns three seeds, which are flat on one side and angular on the
tier.

HI8TORY.

This tree is frequent in hedges ; it flowers in June, and ripens
fruit in September. The berries contain malic acid, and hare
sweetish, not unpleasant, taste/ nevertheless^ eaten in sub*

T %

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324 ELDER.

stance, they offend the stomach. For the market they are ga.
thered indiscriminately from the Sambacus nigra and ebulus ; a
very venial fraud, as their effects are exactly the same. They
are, howctcr, easily distinguished, by the latter, when bruised,
staining the fingers of a red colour, and the former of the co-
lour of a withered leaf.

MEDICAL USE.

Au infusion of the inner green bark of the trunk in wine, or
the expressed juice of the berries- in the dose of half an ounce or
an ounce, is said to purge moderately, and in small doses to
prove an efficacious deobstruont, capable of promoting all the
fluid secretions. The expressed juice, iuspissated to the con-
sistence of a rob, proves an "useful aperient medicine, promotes
the natural evacuations, and, if continued for a sufficient length
of time, does considerable service in various chronical disorders.
The young leaf buds are strongly purgative, and act with so
much violence, as to be deservedly accounted unsafe. The
flowers are very different in quality : these have an agreeable
aromatic flavour, which they yield in distillation to water, and
impart, by infusion, to vinous aud spirituous liquors.

PREPARATIONS.

Inspissated Juice of Elder Berries, commonly called
Elder Rob. (Succus Spissatus Sambuct Nigri, vulgo Rob
Sambiici. E.)

Take of juice of ripe elder berries, five pounds ;

double refined sugar, one pound :

Evaporate, with a gentle heat, to the consistence of pretty thick
honey.

These inspissated juices contain the virtues of the respective
vegetables in a very concentrated state. Those of the elder,
black currant, and lemon, are acidulous, cooling, and laxative,
and may be used in considerable quantities.

Elder Ointment. (Uoguentam Sambuci. L.)

Take of elder flowers, four pounds ;

■ mutton suet, prepared, three pounds;

olive oil, one pint :

Boil tike flowers in the suet and oil till they be almost crisp ;
thea strain witk expression.

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BLDEB.

Duk

Take of fresh elder flowers, three pounds ;

■ prepared hogs lard, four pounds;

— mutton suet, two pounds:

Boil the flowers in the lard until they become crisp ; then strain
with expression ; lastly, add the wax, and melt them together.

Compositions of this kind were formerly very frequent ; but
vegetables, by boiling iu oils, impart to them nothing but a little
mucilage, which changes the greasy oils to drying oils, and any
resin they may contain ; but that also is never in rack quantity
is to affect the nature of the oil. We therefore do not suppose
that this ointment possesses any properties different from a simple
ointment of the same consistence, except its fragrancy. Per.
baps on this account it is found to be a pleasant ointment to
ipply to the piles when outward ; and the colour and smell give
the patient a degree of faith, which is an excellent stimulus in
painful diseases, which are apt to produce great depression of
ipirits.

Elder Wins.

Pick your berries when quite ripe, put them into a stone jar,
ind set them in an oven, or iff a kettle of boiling water, till
the jar is hot through ; them take them out, and strain them
through a coarse sieve ; squeeze the berries, and put the juice
into a clean kettle. To every quart of juice put a pound of
Sne Lisbon sugar ; let it boil, and skim it well. When clear
ind fine, pour it into a cask. To every ten gallons of wine
idd an ounce of isinglass dissolved in cider, and six whole eggs*
Close it up, let it stand six months, and then bottle it.

Another Way. — Take twenty-five pounds of Malaga raisins,
md rub them small ; then boil five gallons of water an hour,
ind let it stand till milk warm : put it into an earthen stein
with your raisins, and let them steep ten days, stirring them
twice a day ; pass the liquor through a hair sieve, and have in
readiness five pints of the juice of elder berries, drawn off as
rou do jelly of currants ; mix it cold with the liquor, stir it
well together, and pnt it in a cask. Let it stand in a warm
place ; and when . it has done working, stop it close and
bottle it.

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320

BLDEI*

Etna* Flowee Wine, or English Feontihiac

JJoil eighteen pounds of white powdered sugar in six gallon**
of water, and two whites of eggs well beaten; skim it, and
pat in a quarter of a peek of elder flowers ; do not keep them
on the fire. When cool, stir it, and put in six spoonfuls of
lemoQ-juice, four or Hie of yeast, and beat well into the li-
quor ; stir it well every day ; put six pounds of the best raisins,
stoned, into the cask, and tun the wine. Stop it dose, and
bottle in six months. When well kept, this wine will pass very
well for Frontiniae.

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DWARF ELDER.

SAMBUCUS EBULUS.

Class V. Pentandria. Order III. Trigynia.
:s8EWT. Gem. Char. Calyx five-parted : Corolla five-cleft : Berry three-
seeded,
ipse C*ak. Cyme tripartite : Stipules foliaceous : Stem herbaceous.

DESCRIPTION.

r his rises to six feet in height, herbaceous, erect Leaves
opposite, pinnated, composed of four or five pair, with an
>dd one at the extremity : pinnae lanceolate, unequal, serrated,
blowers in terminal corymbL Calyx cut into five teeth. Co.
ioIla monopetalous, wheel-shaped, cut into five large segments.
Fruit a roundish, black, single-celled berry, containing three
rregulariy shaped seeds.

HISTORY.
It is not unfrequent in hedges, flowering in June and July,
but seldom brings its fruit to maturity.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

Every part of the plant has a faint disagreeable smell, resembling
that of common elder, but stronger and more ungrateful ; and,

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328 DWARF ELDER.

when taken into the stomach, manifests a greater share of active
power.

The root of the ebulus, which h) white, fleshy, and of a nau-
seous bitter taste, was formerly very generally employed in drop-
sies* A decoction of two drachms of it, or a small quantity Of
its expressed juice, promotes both the alvine and urinary dis-
charges ; and if the decoction is prepared from the bark of the
fresh root, its activity is $o much increased, that it commonly
proves both emetic and cathartic.

The inner bark of the stalk, when recent, is equally powerful
in evacuating the prima vu*; and its effects, as a diuretic, on
the testimony of Dr. firocklesby, were fpund to be very con-
siderable ; but its operation is so violent and precarious, that
it is now very rarely employed.

The berries, in their recent state, according to Scopoli, prove
a gentle cathartic, though Haller says that he never experienced
this effect from their use.

The seeds are said to be diuretic, and to have been given with
advantage in dropsical complaints : they also afford an oil, which
Haller applied with success in painful affections of the joints.

The leaves, boiled in wine, and formed into a cataplasm, have
been recommended in France as a discutient application to con-
tusions and tumours.

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ELM-LEAVED SUMACH.

RHUS CORIARIA.

Clou V. Peotandria. Order III. Trigynta.
Essest. Gei. Chab. Calyx five -parted: Petals five : Berrg one seed.
Spec. Cha*. Leave* obtusely pinnate, serrate, oval, underneath villous.

DESCRIPTION.

This is a small tree, rises ten fleet. Leaves are pinnate, com*
posed of several pinnae, which are lance-shaped, obtusely sawed,
smooth above, hairy beneath ; ends with an odd leaf. The com.
mon footstalk is somewhat winged. Flowers small, bundled
together, in a long spike.

HISTORY.

This species of sumach is a native of the south of Europe, and
appears from the Catalogus Horti Oxomenris to have been cul-
tivated in that garden, previous to the year 1048, though it is
still a scarce plant in this •ountry.

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330

ELM-LEAVED SUMACH.

MEDICAL USE.
The genus to which this species belongs comprehends several
species which are known to be extremely poisonous, especially
the rhus toxicodendron, radicans, and vernix ; but the coriaria
is perfectly innocent, and its berries are in some places used for
culinary purposes.

Its medicinal qualities are wholly to be ascribed to its sryp*
ticity or astringency ; a property which it possesses in a suf-
ficient degree to render it useful in dyeing, and also in tanning
of leather, for which it was used in the time of Dioscorides.

Both the lca?es and berries have been employed in medicine,
but the former are more astringent and tonic, and hare been
long in common use in various complaints indicating this class
of remedies.

The berries, which are red, and of a roundish compressed
figure, contain a pulpy matter, in which is lodged a brown,
hard, oval seed, manifesting a considerable degree of astringency.
The pulp, even when dry, is gratefully acid, and has been dis-
covered to contain an essential salt similar to that of wood-sorrel,
or perhaps more nearly allied to crystals of tartar.

An infusion of the dry fruit is not rendered black by a solu-
tion of iron ; hence it appears to be destitute of astringency ;
but its acidity is extremely grateful, which has caused the tree
to be called by the French le vinaigrier. Therefore, like many
other acid summer fruits, these berries may be advantageously
taken to allay febrile heat, and to correct bilious putrescency.

Lately the rhus toxicodendron and radicans have been recom-
mended in paralytic affections ; the latter by Mr. Fresnoi, and
the former by Dr. Alderson, of Hull: but the cases in which
these virulent plants weje employed are but few and indecisire*

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FLAX.

LINUM USITATISSIMUM.

Ckm V. Pentandria. Order V. Pentagyubu
£mbmt. Gbn. Cbar. Cmfyx five-lea? ed : PeUU five : Cupntle five*valved,
tea-celled t Seed single.

DESCRIPTION.

lms plant rises to a foot and a half. The branches are simple,
erect, and terminated by the flowers. They are single, of a
sky blue colour. The leaves are lance*shaped, acute, sessile.
The calyx is cut into Ave segments. The corolla is composed
of five petals.

HISTORY.

This valuable annual plant is said to hate come originally
from those parts of Egypt which are exposed to the inundations
of the Nile. It now grows wild in the fields in the south of
England, and is cultivated in large quantities. It flowers in
July.

Linseed contains about one-fifth of mucilage, and one-sixth
of fixed oil. The mucilage resides entirely in the skin, and is
separated by infusion or decoction. The oil is separated by ex.
pression. It is one of the cheapest fixed oils ; but is generally
rancid and nauseous* and unfit for internal use. The cake which

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332

FLAX.

remains after the expression of the oil, contains the farinaceous
and mucilaginous part of the seed, and is used in fattening cattle
under the name of oil-cake.

MEDICAL USE.

Linseed is emollient and demulcent. The entire seeds are used
in cataplasms. The infusion is much employed as a pectoral
drink, and in ardor urinae, nephritic pains, and during the ex-
hibition of corrosive sublimate.

Linseed abounds with a quantity of oil and mucilage. It
yields its mucilage to water; and infusions of it, sweetened with
sugar or honey, or prepared with the addition of some liquorice
root, prove good and useful remedies in coughs and rheums ;
and the oil got by expression may be used as other mild oils.

Bergius recommends this oil as a good remedy in the iliac
passion and volvulus. It is much employed in manufactures of
different kinds.

PREPARATIONS.

Cure for a recent Coven and Cold.

Put a large tea-cupful of liuseed, with a quarter of a pound
of sun raisins and two ounces of stick liquorice, into two quarts
of soft water, and let it simmer over a slow fire till reduced to
one quart ; add to it a quarter of a pound of pounded sugar,
candy, a table-spoonful of old rum, and a table-spoonful of the
best white wine vinegar or lemon-juice. The rum and vinegar
should be added as the decoction is taken ; for, if they arc put
in at first, the whole soon becomes flat, and less efficacious.
The dose is half a pint, made warm, on going to bed ; and a
little may be taken whenever the cough is troublesome. The
worst cold is generally cured by this remedy in two or three
days ; and, if taken in time, is considered infallible.

Liniment of Lime Water, or Linseed Oil with Lim*.
(Linimentum Aquae Calcis, sive Oleum Lini cum Caice. E.)
(Linimcntum Calcis. D.)

Take of linseed oil (olive oil, D.) ;

lime water, of each equal parts (three ounces, by

measure, D.):
Mix them (by shaking them together. D.)

This liniment is extremely useful in cases of scakls or burnt,
being siogularly efficacious Is preventing, if applied in time, the

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FLAX.

333

iflammation subsequent to these ; or oteo in removing it after
t has come on.

It is also a species of soap, and might be called soap of lime,
lthough it probably contains a great excess of oil.

To drkss Flax to look like Silk.

Take one part lime, and between two and three parts of
rood ashes; pour over them a due proportion of water to make

strong ley after they have stood together all night, which must
e poured ofT when quite clear. Tie handfuls of flax .at both
nds, to prevent its entangling, but let the middle of each be spread
pen, and put it in a kettle, on the bottom of which has first
ecu placed a little straw, with a cloth over it. Then put an.
>ther cloth over the flax, and so continue covering each layer of
lax with a cloth, till the kettle is nearly full. Pour over the
rhole the clear ley ; and, after boiling k for some hours, take
t out, and throw it in cold waters This boiling, &c. may be
epcated, if requisite. The flax must be each time dried, hackled,
icaten, and rubbed fine; and, at last, dressed through a large
omb, and then through a very fine one. By this process the
lax acquires a bright and soft thread. The tow which is beaten
ff, when papered up aud combed like cotton, is not only used
or many of the same purposes, but makes lint for veterinary
urgeons, &c.

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OFFICINAL SQUILL, or SEA ONION,

SCILLA MARITIMA.

Class VI. Hoxandria. Order I. Monogynin.
EstEirt. Ge», Char. Corolla six -petallH, deciduous : Filaments filiform.

SPEC. CbaR. Flower naked: liractca> re fracled.

DESCRIPTION.

It rises two or three feet Leaves sword-shaped, radical, of a
deep green. Flowers whitish, produced in long close spikes
upon purplish ped ancles. Braotea linear, dropping. Capsule
contains many seeds.

HISTORY.

The squill is a perennial bulbous-rooted plant, which grows
wild on the sandy shores of Spain, Portugal, north of Africa,
and the Le?ant.

The root is about the size of the fist, pear-shaped, with the
apex upwards, and consists of fleshy scales, attenuated at both
edges, surrounded by other scales, which are arid, shining, and

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OFFICINAL SQUILL, OB 8EA OXION.

335

thin, that the root, at first sight, seems to be tunicated. The
lent root is full of a white viscid juice, has scarcely any smelt,
t a very bitter, nauseous, and extremely acrid, taste. Rubbed
i the «kin, it inflames and blisters.

It is more commonly met with in the shops in the form of
e dried scales, which should be brittle, semi pellucid, smooth,
tt marked with lines, and when chewed should feel tenacious,
d taste very bitter, without manifesting acrimony.
The active constituent of the squill is the acrid principle ; and
erefore it becomes almost inert by too much drying, or by
ang kept too long in the form of powder. It ako contains
Iter extractive, much mucilage, albumen, and starch.

MEDICAL USE.
Given internally in large doses it produces purging and vomit-
g, sometimes even strangury, bloody urine, inflammation and
osion of the stomach. In smaller doses it proves an useful ex-
sctorant and diuretic, and it b said to lessen the frequency of
le pulse.

Squill is sometimes given as a general stimulant. But it is
uch more frequently exhibited as an expectorant, where the
mg8 are loaded with viscid matter, and as a diuretic in drop,
cal cases, for which purpose it is commonly conjoined with
Uomel.

The dose of squill is one or two grains three or four times
day ; and the mpst commodious form for its exhibition, unless
'hen designed as an emetic, is that of a bolus, or pill : in a
quid form it is to most people too offensive, though rendered
sss disagreeable both to the palate and stomach by the addition
f aromatic distilled waters.

PREPARATIONS.
Conserve of Squills. (Conserva Scillae. L.)

Take of fresh squills, one ounce ;

■ double refined sugar, five ounces :

Seat them together in a mortar into a conserve.

This is a very uncertain and disagreeable mode of exhibiting
his valuable simple. A tea-spoonful is to be taken three times
i day.

The London college conclude their chapter on conser?es with
lesiring all the conserves, especially those of arum and squills,
to be kept in close vessels.

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336 OFFICINAL SQUILL, OB SEA ONION.

Tincture op Squill. (Tinctura Scillae. L. D.)

Take of squills, fresh dried, four ounces ;

proof spirit of wine, two pints :

(Digest for eight days, and pour off the liquor, L.):

Digest for seven days ; then set it aside, and, when the faeces

have subsided, pour off the pure liquor, D.

The active principle of squills is soluble in alcohol, and there
are cases in whicji a tincture may be useful. The dose is fifteen
to thirty drops, three times a day.

Honey of Squills. (Mel Scillae. L.)

Take of clarified honey, three pounds ;

tincture of squills, two pints :

Boil them, in a glass vessel, to the thickness of a syrup.

This is merely a sweetened tincture of squills, and, when
wanted, may be prepared extemporaneously. The dose is one
to two drachms three times a day.

Oxymel of Squills. (Oxymel ScilUe. L. D.)

Take of clarified honey, three pounds ;

Vinegar of squills, two pints :

Boi! them in a glass vessel, with a slow fire, to the thickness of
a syrup.

Oxymel of squills is an useful aperient, detergent, and expec-
torant, and of great service in humoral asthmas, coughs, and
other disorders where thick phlegm abounds. It is given in doses
of two or three drachms, along with some aromatic water, as
that of cinnamon, to prevent the great nausea which it would
otherwise be apt to excite. In large doses it proves emetic.

Syrup of Squills. (Syrupus Scillae Maritime. E.)

Take of vinegar of squills, two pounds ;

■ double refined sugar, in powder, three pounds and

a half:
Dissolve the sugar with a gentle heat, so as to form a syrup.

This syrup is used chiefly in doses of a spoonful or two, for
promoting expectoration, which it does very powerfully. It is
also given as an emetic to children.

Vinegar of Squills. (Acctum ScMlc Maritimse. £.)
Take of dried squills, two ounces ;

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OFFICINAL SQUILL, Oft SEA ONION. 337

Take of distilled acetous acid, two pounds and a half;

alcohol, three ounces :

lacerate the squills in the acetous acid for seven days ; then
tress out the liquor, to which add the alcohol ; and, when the
Bees hare subsided, pour off the clear liquor.

Vinegar of Squills. (Acetum Scillae. L.)

Take of squills, recently dried, one pound ;

vinegar, six pints ;

proof spirit, half a pint :

lacerate the squills with the Yinegar in a glass vessel, with a
entle heat, for twenty-four hours ; then express the liquor, and
st it aside until the feces subside. To the decanted liquor add
le spirit

Vinegar of squills is a medicine of great antiquity. It is a
erjr powerful stimulant ; and hence it is frequently used, with
rent success, as a diuretic and expectorant. The dose of this
ledicine is from a drachm to half an ounce : where crudities
bound in the first passages, it may be given at first in a larger
ose, to evacuate them by vomiting. It is most conveniently
ihibited along with cinoamon, or other agreeable aromatic
aters, which prevent the nausea it would otherwise, even in
nail doses, be apt to occasion..

Powder op Squills. (Pulvis Scillae. D.)

Cut the squills, after having removed their membranaceous in -
guments, into transverse slices ; dry these on a sieve with a
entle heat, and reduce them to powder, which is to be kept in
hials with ground stoppers.

The Drying op Squill. (Scillae Exsiccatio. L.)

Cut the squill, after having removed its dry coats, transversely
ito thin slices, and dry it by a gentle heat.

Dried Sia Squill. (Sdtla Maritima Exsiccate. E.)

Cut the root of the sea squill, after having removed its ex-
srnal coat, transversely into thin slices, and dry it by a gentle
eat. The sign of its being properly dried is, that, although
sndered friable, it retains its bitterness and acrimony.

By this method the squill dries much sooner than when its
»veral coats are only separated ; the internal part being here
lid bare, while in each of the entire coats it is covered with a

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338 OFMCINAL SftOiLL, OR SEA OttlOK.

thin skin, which impedes the exhalation of ffce turistsuret The
root loses in this process four-fifths of its origan! weight; the
parts which e&hale with a moderate heat appear to he mesdf
watery ; hence si* grains of the dry oeot are equiraieet to half
a drachm of it when fresh ; a circamstaace to he partkuburlj
regarded in the exhibition of thb medicine. But if too great
heat has been employed in dryiug it, it becomes almost inert)
and it also loses its virtues by long keeping in the state of
powder.

Dried squills furnish us with a medicine, sometimes admits.
gcously employed as an emetic, often as an expectorant, and
still more frequently as a powerful diuretic. The recent root li
given from five to fifteen grains, and of the dried from one to
three grains.

Squill Fills. (Pilulae Scillae. L.)

Take of fresh dried squills, powdered, one drachm ;

ginger, powdered,

— - — - soap, of each A roe drachms;
« ■ ' >■ ammomaevtn, two drachms ;

Byrup of ginger, as much as 'n sufficient;

Beat them, together.

Squill Pills with Ginger. (Pilulae Scillae cum Zingibere. D.)
Take of powder of squills, one drachm ;

ginger, hs fine powder, two drachms;
essential oil of aniseed, ten drops :

Triturate together, and form into a mass with jelly of soap.

Squill Pills. (Pilulae Scilliticae. £.)
Take of dried root of squills, in fine powder, one scruple ;

gum ammoniac,

lesser cardamom seeds, in powder,

extract of liquorice, of each eae drachm :

Yean thm into a macs, with simple syrup*

These are elegant and commodious forms for the exhibition of
squills, whether foe promoting expectoration , or with the other
intentions to which that medicine is applied. As the virtue of
dbe-compouBd is derfced chiefly from, the squills, the other in-
grediewta are often varied in extemporaneous prescription, The
.dose isjfrom, ten; grains tp one scru^le^ three times a day.

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OFFICINAL SQUILIj, OH 8EA ONION.

339

PRESCRIPTIONS.

J^. 1. Take of the regent sqoilf, dried, id powder, four grains ;

Crystal* of tartar, in powder, one scruple :

tlake a powder, to be taken night and morning in a cup of
»rley water, sweetened with a lump of powdered white sugar*
Phis is excellent for a dropsy.

R. 2. Take of conserve of squill, half a drachm ;
calomel, two grains ;

purified opium, half a grain I

Make into a bolus, to be taken every night going to bed. Given
n pituitdus asthma, and dropsy.
f£. 3. Take of tincture of squills from 20 to 31 drops ;
cinnamon water,

rose water, equal quantities, six drachms :

fo be taken throe times a day. For asthma and dropsy.

z 2

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COMMON CULTIVATED GARLIC.

ALLIUM SATIVUM.

> Class VI. Hexandria. Order I. Monogynia.

Essknt. Gen. Char. Corolla six-parted, patent: Spatha multiflorous:
' Umbel congested : Capsule superior.
Spec. Chau. Stem bulb-bearing : Bulb compound : Stamina trkuspidate.

DESCRIPTION.
It rises a foot or more. The leaves from the root are nume-
rous; on the stem few, long, flat, grass-like. The flowers
arise between the small bulbs, which terminate the stem in a
cluster. The flower is white, and commonly abortive. The
caljx is a spatha common to all the florets and bulbs. The co-
rolla consists of six oblong petals. The capsule is short, broad,
three* celled and three-valved, and contains roundish seeds.

HISTORY.
Garlic is a perennial bulbous-rooted plant, which grows wild
in Sicily, and is cultivated in our gardens. The root consists of

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COMMON CULTIVATED GARLIC.

341

ve or six small bulbs, called cloves, inclosed in one common
lembranous coat, but easily separable from each other. All
le parts of this plant, but more especially the roots, have a
rong, offensive, very penetrating and diffusible smell, and ah
:rimonious, almost caustic, taste* The root is full of a limpid
lice, of which it furnishes almost a fourth part of its weight by
cpression. It also loses about half its weight by drying, but
arcely any of its smell or taste. Py decoction its virtues are
itirely destroyed ; and by distillation it furnishes a small quan-
ty of a yellowish essential oil, heavier than water, which pos-
sses the sensible qualities of the garlic in an eminent degree,
ts peculiar virtues are also in some degree extracted by alcohol
id acetous acid.

By Neumann's analysis it lost two-thirds of its weight by ex-
ccation. By decoction from 060 parts, water extracted 380,
id the residuum yielded 27 to alcohol, and was reduced to 40.
lcohol applied first, extracted 123, the residuum yielded 162
> water, and was reduced to 40. In both cases the alcoholic
[tract was unctuous and tenacious, and precipitated metallic
riutions. But the active ingredient was a thick, ropy, essential
1, according to Hagen heavier than water, not amounting to
ore than 1*3 of the whole, in which alone resided the smell,
le taste, and all that distinguishes the garlic.

MEDICAL USE.

Applied externally it acts successively as a stimulant, rube,
dent, and blister. Internally, from its very powerful and
fusible stimulus, it is often useful in diseases of languid ep-
ilation and interrupted secretion. Hence in cold leuco-phlag-
atic habits it proves a powerful expectorant, diuretic, and, if
e patient be kept warm, sudorific ; it has also been by some
ipposed to be emmenagogue. For the same reason, in cases

which a phlogistic diathesis, or irritability prevails, large
>ses of it may be very hurtful.

It is sometimes used by the lower classes as a condiment, and
so enters as an ingredient into many of the epicure's most fa.
write sauces. Taken in moderation, it promotes digestion ;
tt in excess, it is apt to produce headach, flatulence, thirst,
brfle heat, and inflammatory diseases, and sometimes occasions
discharge of blood from the hemorrhoidal vessels.

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34? common ctJi/rrrATEP <*e*MG»

la fevers of tile typhoid type, and eyen in tfce jplageeiaielf;
its virtues have been much celebrated. .

Garlic ha* been said to here sometimes sncceeded in earing)
obstinate quartan, after cinchona had failed. In catarrhal dis-
orders ef the breast; asthma, both pituitoas and spasmodic;
flatulent colics j hysterical and other diseases, proceeding from
laxity of the solids, it has generally good effects ; it has likewise
been found serviceable in pome hydropic cases, Sydenham re*
lams that ha has known the dropsy cured by the use ef garlic
alone | he recommends it chiefly as a warm strengthening me*
dicine in the beginning of the disease*

It is muck recommended by some as an anthelmintic, and has
been frequently applied with success externally as a stimulant to
indolent tumours, in cases ef deafness proceeding from atony or
rheumatism, and ia retention of urine, arising from debility ef
the bladder.

Garlic may either be exhibited in substance, and in this way
several cloves may be taken at a time without ineonsenieuoe, or
the cloves cut into slices may be swallowed without chewing .
This it the common mode of exhibiting it lor the cure of inter*
mlttents.

The expressed juice, when, git en internally, must be rendewd
as palatable as possible* by the addition of sugar and lemon
juice. In deafness, cotton moistened with the juice is intro-
duced within the ear, and the application renewed hie or six
times in one day.

Infusions in spirit, vine, vinegar, and water, although con*

tearing the whole of its ? rrtues, are so acrimonious as to be unit

for general use ; and yet an infusion of an ounce ef brniatd

•> garlic in a pound of milk, was the mode in which Rojenateia

exhibited it to children afflicted with worms.

But by far the most commodious form for administering gar-
lic, is that ef a; pi H or bolus conjoined with some powder, cor*
responding with the intention of giving the garlic. In drossy
calomel forms a most useful addition. It may also sometimes
be exhibited with advantage in the form of a clyster.

Garlic made into an ointment with oils, fa, and applied e*«
ternally, is said to resolve and discuss indolent tumour*, and has
been by some greatly esteemed ia cutaneous disease*. (I has
likewise sometimes been employed as a repellent. When annlied
under the form of a poultice to the pubis, it has sometimes

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ONION.

343

•oved effectoal in producing a discharge of urine, when reten-
>n has arisen from a want of due action in the bladder. Syden-
\m assures us, that among all the substances which occasion
derivation or revulsion from the head, nono operates more
iwerfolly than garlic applied to the soles of the feet : with this
tendon he used it in the confluent small-pox, about the eighth
y, after the face bcyflfc to swell ; ike coot cut in pieces, and
sd in a linen cloth, was a;iplied to the soles, and renewed once
day till all danger was over.

ONION.

This is also a perennial bulbous-rooted plant. The root is a
nple bulb, formed of con cea trie circles. It possesses in ge-
iral the same properties as the garlic, but in a much weaker
gree. Neumann extracted from 480 parts of the dry root, by
cans of alcohol, 560* and then by water 30 ; by water applied
st 395, and then by alcohol 30 : the first residuum weighed 56,
d the second 64. By distillation the whole flavour of the
lions passed oyer, but no oil could be obtained.

MEDICAL USE.

Onions are considered rather as an article of food than of
•dicine: they are supposed to yield little or no nourishment,
id when eaten liberally produce flatulencies, occasion thirst,
adachs, and turbulent dreams ; in cold phlegmatic habits,
liere viscid mucus abounds, they doubtless have their uee ; as
r their stimulating quality they tend to excite appetite, and
omote the secretions : by some they are strongly ttOOiniBended
suppressions of urine, and iff flropsics. The chief medicinal
e of onions in the present practice h in external applications,
a cataplasm for suppurating tumours, &c.
Yet it must be allowed by all, that onions made into sauce,
taken roasted for supper, are a very useful diet in cases of
iter in the chest, as in general dropsy.

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WM ym

&a m

• !

SOCOTRINE ALOE.

ALOE PERFOLIATA SOCOTRINA.

Clan VI. Hexandria. Order I. Mcmogynia.

Essknt. Gen. Char. Corolla monopetalous, nectariferous: FiUmenit in-
serted upon a receptacle.

Spec. Char. Leaves cauline, dentate, ampiexlcaal, vaginast: Fkmen
pedunculated.

HISTORY,

1 he aloes is a perennial plant, of which there are many va-
rieties which grow in the south of Europe, Asia, Africa, and
America. But Thunberg says, and the Dublin college agree with
him, that the finest aloes are prepared from the Aloe spicata,
the second species of Willdenow, which grows at the Cape of
Good Hope.

During four years that the Cape of Good Hope was in pos-
session of the British, more than 900,000 pounds, the produce
at that settlement, were imported into England ; and as this
quantity was infinitely greater than could be required for the
purposes of medicine, it is not improbable that, as Mr. Barrow

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SOCOTR1NE ALQES.

345

tates, its principal consumption was by the London porter
Mrewers.

1. Socoteine Aloes. (L. E. Sp. 2. Aloe Spicata. D.)

This article is brought, wrapt in skins, from the island of So*
otora in the Indian ocean. This sort is the purest of the three
n use: it is of a glossy surface, clear, and in some degree pel-
ucid; in mass, of a yellowish red colour, with a purple cast;
vhen reduced to powder, of a bright golden colour. It is hard
aid friable in the winter, somewhat pliable in summer, and grows
oft between the fingers. Its taste is bitter and disagreeable,
hough accompanied with some aromatic flavour ; the smell is
lot yery unpleasant, and somewhat resembles that of myrrh.

It is prepared in July, by pulling off the leaves, from which
he juice is expressed, and afterwards boiled and skimmed. It
8 then preserved in skins, and dried in August in the suu. Ac-
wrdiog to others, the leaves are cut off close to the stem, and
lung up. The juice which drops from them without any ex-
pression, is afterwards dried in the sun.

2. Barbadoes or Hepatic Aloes. (L. £. D.)

Hepatic aloes is not so clear and bright as the foregoing sort ;
t is also of a darker colour, more compact texture, and for the -
nost part drier. Its smell is much stronger and more disagree-
ible ; the taste intensely bitter and nauseous, with little or no-
thing of the aromatic flavour of the soco trine. The best hepatic
does come from Barbadoes in large gonrd shells, and an inferior
tort of it, which is generally soft and clammy, is brought over
n casks. In Barbadoes the plant is pulled up by the roots, and
arefolly cleaned from the earth and other impurities. It is then
diced into small hand-baskets and nets, which are put into large
ron boilers or cauldrons with water, and boiled for ten minutes,
ir hen they are taken out, and fresh parcels supplied till the liquor
is strong and blacky which is then strained into a deep vat, nar-
row at the bottom, where it is left to cool and to deposit its fas-
rulent parts. Naxt day the clear liquor is drawn off by a cock,
ind again committed to a large iron vessel. At first it is boiled
briskly, but towards the end it is slowly evaporated, and
requires constant stirring to prevent burning. When it becomes
of the consistence of honey, it is poured into gourds or calabashbs
for sale, and hardens by age.

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246

SOCOTIUNE ALOES.

3» JTcsro>, Caballine, or Horse Aloes.

This sort is easily distinguished from both the foregoing by its
strong rank smell ; although, in other respects, it agrees pretty
much with the hepatic, and is not uufrequently sold in its stead.

Sometimes the caballine aloes is prepared so pure and bright,
as not to be distinguishable by the eye even from the socotrine ;
but its offensive smell, of which it cannot be divested, readily
betrays it. It is now excluded frem the list of almost all modern
pharmacopoeias, and is employed solely by farriers.

From sixteen ounces of aloes Neumann extracted near fifteen
by mean* of alcohol. From the residuum water took up one
drachm, about an ounce of impurities being left ; on inverting
the procedure and applying water first, he obtained but thirteen
ounces and a half of watery extract, and from the residuum al-
cohol dissolved an ounce and a half. According to this analysis,
1000 parts of aloes contain about 78 soluble in water only, or
analogous to gum, 980 soluble in alcohol only, or resjuous, and
805 soluble both in alcohol, and in water or extractive. The
constituent principles of aloes therefore appear to be resin and
extractive. Dr. Lewis also remarks, that decoctions of aloes let
fall a precipitate, as they cool, probably from extractive being
more soluble rn boiling than in cold water. He also proved the
hepatic aloes to contain more resin and less extractive than th<*
Socotrine, and this less than the caballine. The resins of all the
sorts, purified by alcohol, have little smell ; that obtained from
the socotrine has scarce any perceptible taste ; that of the hepa-
tic, a slight bitterish relish ; and the resin of the caballine, a
little more of the aloetic flavour. The extractive obtained se-
parately from any of the kinds, is less disagreeable than the crude
aloes: the extractive of socotrine aloes has very little smell, and
h in tftSte not unpleasant : that of the hepatic has a somewhat
stronger smell, but hi rather more agreeable in taste than the ex.
tract of the socotrine : the extractive of caballine retains a con.
siderabfe share of the peculiar rank smell of this sort of aloes,
but its taste is not much more unpleasant than that of the extrac-
tive obtained from tJle two other sorts.

MEDICAL USE.
Aloes is a bitter stimulating purgative, exerting its action
Chiefly on the rectum. In doses of from 4 to 6 grains it empties
the large intestines, without making the stools thin ; and likewise

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80€OTftlN£ AlrflES.

347

arms the habit, quickens the circulation, and promotes the
terine and haemorrhoidal fluxes. If given in so large a dose as
> purge effectually, it often occasions an irritation about the
NB) and sometimes a discharge of blood.

It is frequently employed in cases of suppression of the menses,
r of the haemorrhoidal discharge : but \t is particularly service-
blc in habitual costirencss, to persons of a phlegmatic tempera.
lent and sedentary life, and where ihc stomach is oppressed and
weakened. It has, however, a tendency to induce and augment
jemorrhoidal affections ; and with those who aire liable to such
om plaints, it should be avoided. In dry bilious habits aloes
roves injurious, immoderately hcatipg the body, ami inflaming
be bowels.

' Some are of opinion, that the purgative virtue of aloes resides
ntirely in its resin ; but experience has shown, that the pure resin
as little or no purgative quality, and that the extractive part se-
parated from the resinous, acts more powerfully than the crude
Joes. Tf the aloes indeed be made to undergo long coction in
he preparation of the gummy extract, its cathartic power will be
:onsiderably lessened, not from the separation of the resin, but
rom an alteration made in the extractive itself by the action of
he heat and air. The strongest vegetable cathartics become
nild by a similar treatment.

Socotrine aloes, as already observed, contains more extractive
han the hepatic ; and hence is likewise found to purge more,
tad with greater irritation. The first sort, therefore, is most
proper where a stimulus h required, as for promoting or exciting
he menstrual flux ; whilst the latter is better calculated to act as
i common purge.

PREPARATIONS.

Powder pp Aloes with Canella. (Pulvis Aloes cum
Canella. L. D.)

Take of socotrine aloes, (Hepatic aloes, D.) one pound ;

— ■ white canella, three ounces :

Powder them separately, and then mix them.

This was formerly well known by the title of Hiera Rcra.
The spicy canella acts as a corrigent to the aloes, but the com-
pound is more adapted to be formed into pills, than to be used
in the. state of powder. It is a convenient medicine for costive
babits not subject to the piles. Dose ip grains to a scruple at
bed-time.

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348 SOCOTBINB ALOES.

• Aloetic Powder with Guaiacum- (Pulvis Aloes cum

Guaiaco. L.D.)

Take of socotrioe aloes, one ounce and a half; (Hepatic
aloes, D.)

• gum guaiacum, one ounce ;

, aromatic powder, half an ounce :
Rub the aloes and gum guaiacum separately to powder ; then mix
them with the aromatic powder.

This powder is supposed to combine the sudorific effects of the
guaiac with the purgative of the aloes. It is given in the rheu-
matism. The. dose is ten graius to a scruple, night and morning.

Aloetic Powder with Iron: (Pulvis Aloeticus cum Ferro. L.)

Take of socotrine aloes, an ounce and a half;

. myrrh, two ounces ;

— dry extract of gentian,

vitriolated iron, of each one ounce :

Reduce them separately to powder, and mix them.

This combination is sufficiently judicious, as in some cases the
combined effects of an aloetic and chalybeate prore of very great
advantage. But powder is a bad form of exhibiting aloes ; we
would therefore recommend it to be formed into pills or boluses,
.with a little mucilage. It is given in chlorosis. The dose is litre
grains to a scruple.

Aloetic Pi lls, (Pilulae Aloeticae. R.)

Take of aloes, in powder,

soap, equal parts*

Beat them with simple syrup into a mass fit for making pills/

Pills of Aloes and Ginger. (Pilulae Aloes cum Zingibcre. D.)

Take of hepatic aloes, one ounce ;

ginger root, in powder, one drachm ;

■ soap, half an ounce ;

• essence of peppermint, half a drachm.

Powder the aloes with the ginger, then add the soap and the oil,
so as to form an intimate mixture. Forms an excellent purge
for costive habits, in the dose of five to ten grains.

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90C0TAINB ALOES.

8*9

Compound Pills of Aloes. (Pilule Afoes Composite. L.)

Take of socotrine aloes, powdered, one ounce ;
' extract of gentian, half an ounce ;

oil of caraway seeds, two scruples ;

syrup of ginger, as much as is sufficient ;

Beat them together.

Although soap can scarcely be thought to facilitate the solution
of the aloes in the stomach, as was supposed by Boerhaave and
others, it is, probably, the most convenient substance that can be
added, to giro it the proper consistence for making pills. When
extract of gentian is triturated with aloes, they re-act upon each
other, and become too soft to form pills, so that the addition of
any syrup to the mass, as directed by the London college, is per-
fectly unnecessary \ unless, at the same time, some powder be
added to give it consistency.

These pills are much used as warm and stomachic laxatives :
they are very well suited for the costiveness so often attendant
on j>eople of sedentary lives, and, upon the whole, are one of
the most useful articles in the materia medica. The dose about
ten grains.

Pills of Aloes and Assaf<etida. (Pilulas Aloes et Assae

Fcetidos. E.)
Take of socotrine aloes, in powder,

assafostida,

■ soap, equal parts :
Form them into a mass, with mucilage of gum Arabic.

These pills, in doses of about ten grains, twice a-day, produce
the most salutary effects in cases of dyspepsia, attended with
flatulence and costiveness.

Pills of Alois with Colocynth. (Pilulae Aloes cum
Colocynthide. £•)
Take of socotrine aloes,

scammony, of each eight parts ;

colocynth, four parts ;

oil of cloves,

sulphate of potass with sulphur, of each one part :

Reduce the aloes and scammony into a powder, with the salt ;
-then let the colocynth, beat into a very fine powder, and the oil,
be added : lastly, make it into a proper mass with mucilage of
gum Arabic. This suits best very costive habits of body.

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350 loooTRiKB Atom.

Pills ov Alois ahd Myrrh. (Pttulae Aloes ttlfyctha. E.J
Take of socotrine aloes, four parts ;

myrrh) two parts ;

saffron, one part :

Beat them ioto a mass with simple syrup.

Lond.
Take of socotrine aloes, two ounces ;
' myrrh,

saffron, of each one ounce ;

syrnp of saffron f as much as is sufficient :

Powder the aloes and myrrh separately ; and, afterwards, beat
all the ingredients together into a mass.

These pills hate long continued in practice, without any othei
alteration- than in the syrup with which the mass is made up, and
in tne proportion of saffron. The virtues of this medicine may
be easily understood from its ingredients. Given to the quantkj
of half a drachm, or two scruples, they prove considerably ca-
thartic, but they answer much belter purposes in smaller dose
as laxatives.

Ethereal Tincture of Aloes. ( Ti net ura Aloes iEtherca. E.]
Take of socotrine aloes,

■ myrrh, of each, in powder, one ounce and a half;

English saffron, sliced, one ounce ;

■ 8uiphuric ether, with alcohol, one pound :

Digest the myrrh with the sulphuric ether with alcohol for four
days, in a close vessel ; then add the saffron and* aloes. Digest
again for four days, and, when die f«ces hare subsided, pom
off the tincture. *

This tincture agrees generally in its effects with the other tine
tures of aloes, the only difference arising from the more pene-
trating and stimulating nature of the menstruum itself. Thi
dose is from one to two drachms iu cold water to be take* going
to bed. Given in gouty habits.

Wine of Socotrine Aloes, commonly called Sacred Tinc-
ture. (Vinum Aloes Socotrinae, vulgo Tinctur* Sacra. E.)
IVke of socotrine aloes, in powder, one ounce;

lesser cardamom seeds, bruised,

■ ginger, bruised, each one drachm ;
^— Spanish white whic, two pounds :

Digest for seven days, stirring now and then, and afterwards strata.

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SOCOT&IM ALMS S&l

Winb of Aloe*; (Vinum Abes* lu)

fake of socotrtae aloes, eigkr. ounces ;

canella alb*, two ounces ;

Spanish white wine, six pints;

proof spirit, hvo pinto :

Powder Hie aloes and canella separately j mix them, and pour on
he wine artd spirit; digest for- fourteen days, now and 4h*a
baking them ; and strain*

It 19 proper to mix white sand clean sod from impurities, with
he powder, in order to prevent the moistened aloes from sticking
ogether.

This medtctno has long bw» ki great esteem, not only as a ca-
hartic, Ihrt likewise as a sfSmuro*. The dose is from turio Co
bnr drachms. •

it appears from long e*porioac« to bo a medicine of excellent
ervtce. Tfce dose, as a porgattTe^ is from oae to two ounces. It
nay be introduced into the habit, so as to be productive of excet-
8nt effects, as an alterant, by giving it in small doses at proper
atervals : thus managed, it docs not for a considerable' time ope*
ate remarkably by stool ; but at length prores purgative, and
ccasions a lax habit of much longer continuance than that pro-
I need by the other common cathartics.

PRESCRIPTIONS.
J£. 1. Take of socotrine aloes, iu powder, drachm ^

soap, ------- drachm 17

essential aromatic oil of cloves drops 3

simple nypooj as much as is sufficient to

form a mass :

dake into thirty pills, of which take four every night Given
o open the body in costive habits.
fy. 2. Take of the aloetic powder with iron drachm 1

syrup of ginger, as much as is sufficient :

lake sixteen pills, of which take four every night. A good
ante aperient, only gently moving the body and at the same
ime bracing.

fy. 3. lake of the powder of aloes with guaiacum, scruples 2

— : antimonial powder - - - - scruple 1

simple syrup, as much as is sufficient:

lake into sixteen pills, of which two are to be taken every
tight going to bed. Excellent where perspiration is wanted.

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352

SOCOTR1NE ALOES.

$.4. Take of aloetic wine, ----- ounces U

compound spirit of ammonia: ounce £

Take a tea-spoonfull occasionally in some cold water in Tery
torpid habits.

$. 6. Take of socotrine aloes, - - - - drachms %

'— new milk : ounces 8

Rub them together for a clyster. This is useful to destroy the
ascarides, or little thread- worm.

$. 6. Take of tincture of aloes, - - - -drachm 1
tincture of rhubarb - - - drachms 2

cinnamon water.

. ... drachms 6*

peppermint water, equal quantities :
Make into an opening draught. To be taken on going to bed,
and early in the morning, where there is giddiness of the head,.
to determine to the aorta descendens, or descending large artery,
leading from the heart, and to stimulate the lower bowels. A
yery useful purge in paralytic cases.

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.r t» " ." " *

iff

«. .*

SWEET FLAG, or ACORUS.

ACORUS CALAMUS.

Close VI. Hezandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Emlnt. Geif. Char. Spadix cylindrical, covered with floacnlet : Corolla

six-petallcd, naked : Style nana* Gapeule three-celled.
Spec. Char. Scape mucronute, very long, foliaceous.

DESCRIPTION.

1 he leaves of this plant are long, sword-shaped, sheathing
one another, and commonly undulated oh one side. The flowers
ire small, numerous, and produced upon a spadix or conical
spike. The capsule is oblong, triangular, and divided into three
cells containing numerous oval seeds.

HISTORY.

This plant is perennial, and grows plentifully in rivulets and
marshy places about Norwich and other parts of England, in
the canals of Holland, in Switzerland, and in other countries of
Bo rope. The shops have been usually supplied from the Levant
with dried roots, which do not appear to be superior to those of
onr grown growth.

The root is full of joints, crooked, somewhat flatted on the

2 a

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•WHT FtAG* OR ACORTT*.

•ides, internally of a white colour and loose spongy texture:
itf smell is strong ; the taste warm, acrid, bitterish, and aro-
vtetic ; both the smell and taste are improved by exsiccation.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

This root h generally looked upon as a carminative and sto-
machic medicine, and as such is sometimes made use of in prac
$C6* It is said by some, though erroneously, to be superior io
aromatic flavour to any other vegetable that is produced in these
northern dimes. It is, nevertheless, a sufficiently elegant aro-
matic The fresh root candied is said to be employed at Con-
stantinople as a preservative against epidemic diseases. The
leaves of this plant have a sweet fragrant smell, more agreeable,
though weaker, than that of the roots.

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DRAGON'S BLOOD TREE-

CALAMUS ROTANG.

CUu* VI. Hexandria. Orikr I. Ifonofyuia.
Gsat. Cuaa. Cttyx six-kaved: CvroUm none: Barry dry, ofce*
seeded, inversely imbricated.

par. Cbab. Getyr six-leaved: CortOm nonet Berry dry, <
backwards imbricated*

•DESCRIPTION.

[his may be considered at a scandent kind of palm* the lower
art of the stem is hollow, jointed, beset with spines ; its upper
art takes a horizontal direction, and overruns the neighbour*
ig trees, in extent reaching above a hundred feet The leaves
re several feet long, narrow, sword-shaped, serrated, with
pinous teeth. Calyx six persisting leaflets. No corolla. Fruit
trger than a filbert, contains a red resinous pulp, which i
dry,

2a *

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DRAGON 8 BLOOD TRE£.

H I STORY.

It is a native of the East Indies, where it commonly grows
In woods near rivers, and has long supplied Europe with walk-
ing-canes, which have usually been imported by the Dutch.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

Several trees are known to abound with a red resinous juice,
which is obtained by wounding the bark, and is called dragon's
blood, as the Pterocarpus Draco or Pterocarpus officinalis of
Jacquin, the Dracaena Draco, the Dalbergia monetaria, and the
. Pterocarpus sontolinus. Besides these, many of the Indian red
woods, while growing, pour forth through the fissures of the
bark a blood-coloured juice, forming a resinous concretion, to
which the name dragon's blood has been affixed. This drug,
however, is chit- fly obtained from the fruit of the Calamus Ro-
tang, and is procured at the Molucca islands, Java, and other
parts of the East Indies, according to Kaempfer, by exposing
this fruit to the steam of boiling water, which softens the ex-
ternal shell, and forces out the resinous fluid, which is then in-
closed in certain leaves of the reed kind, and hung in the air to
dry. Another way of obtaining the Sanguis Draconis is by sim-
ply boiling the fruit in water, inspissating the strained decoction,
and drying it in the same manner as the former. In Palimbania
the external surface of the ripe fruit is often observed covered
with the resin, which is rubbed off by shaking the fruit together
in a bag ; when this is done, the drug is melted by the sun's
heat, and formed into globules, which are folded in leaves : this
i& deemed the purest kind of dragon's blood ; and that which is
next in goodness is procured by taking the fruit, which is found
to be »rtil distended with resin, out of the bag, and, after bruising
it, exposing it to the sun, or boiling it gently in water: the drug
then appears floating upon the surface, and is skimmed off and
shaped into small cakes.

It is. employed in haemorrhages and fluxes.

-
I

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WHITE LILY.

ULIUM CANDIDUM.

Class VI. Hexandria. Order I. Monogynia.
s*tm. Gbw. Char. Corolla six-petalled, campaoulate, with a longitn-

dinal Hoc for a nectary : Capsule having its valves connected with netted

threads.
pec. Char. Leaves scattered : Corolla campanulas, smooth within.

DESCRIPTION.

ivooT bulbous. Stem upright, rising about three feet. Leaves
lumerous, smooth, without footstalks. Flowers large, white,
erminating the stem in clusters upon short peduncles. The co. .
olla.is bell-shaped, cpm posed of six petals of a beautiful white
olour. Capsule oblong, divided into three cells, containing
aany flattish seeds of a semicircular shape.

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358

WHITS LILT.

Utt

HISTORY.

- It it a natire of the I^Tant, aa4 was cultivated hoe
time of Gerard.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

The root is extremely mucilaginous ; and boiled with milk
and water |f employed as an emollient cataplasm to broken
> The expressed juice, with some brandy in it, is much
i of as a popular remedy for disorders of the eyes.

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BARBERRY.

BERBERIS VULGARIS.

Out VI. Hexandria. Ordbrll. Digynia.
\sswarr. Gsw. Cham. C*lyx six-leave* : P«/o/i six: two ^tart at each
unguis t Atyfcsaone: Ifony two*seeded.
ncCxu. PtAmcJe* raccmont i Spfeet triple.

DESCRIPTION.

Ike flowers are in clusters like the currant : the fruit oblong,
ed : the leaves oblong-ovate, serrated : stem defended by three
horns.

HISTORY.

It is found wild in our hedges. The stamens hare a remark*.
rie sensibility, moving, when touched by any thing, towards the
tlftiUum : a curious fact, discovered by Dr. Smith, the ipst bo-
anist of the age. Leaves tender, and very subject to the rubigo,
rhkh will infect the corn in its neighbourhood.

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360

BARBERRY.

M IDICA VI R TUES.

The bark of the stem infused in beer has the reputation of
curing the jaundice. It dyes a beautiful yellow j hence probably
arose this boasted virtue. The leaves and fruit are acid, and in
the form of jam very refreshing in acute disease, tjz. all kinds
of inflammation, as Hallcr says he has experienced with pa-
tients, and in himself.

Prosper Alpinus mentions, that being attacked with a putrid
fever accompanied with a bilious diarrhoea, he owes his recovery
wholly to eating the fruit of the barberry. Simon Pauli relates
that he found a similar result. J. Bauhin recommends the
same remedy in dysentery. These observations certainly merit
the attention of modern practitioners, acids in general being
found beneficial in such alarming diseases, when perhaps a
drink made of the berries, sweetened with sugar, might be
found a specific in such fatal disorders. The jam is thus pre-
pared:—

Barberry Jam.

Pick them from the stalks, bake them in an earthen pan :
when baked, pass them through a sieve wtyh a large wooden
spoon ; weigh the barberries, and put their weight of powdered
sugar; mix well together, put it in your pans and cover it up;
set it in a dry place ; when you have filled your pans, sift pow-
dered sugar over the tops.

..
". «. |fl '• : "

:
bittttHtfoddgtoo tti tfi 010) *iJ

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COMMON MEADOW SAFFRON.

COLCHICUM AUTUMN ALE.

Class VT. Hexandria. Order lit, Trigynia.".
Sssent. Gen. Char. Corolla six-parted: Tube radical: Capsules con

necfed, inflated.' •-'•*'

}fbc. Char. /*/**» flat* Utoceelate, erect j

DESCRIPTION.

1 he root is a double succulent bulbi The flower is large, of
i purple colour, and comes directly from the root. The leaves
ippear in spring, and are radical, and spear-shaped. Corolla
consisting of a single petal, divided into six lance-shaped erect
segments. Capsule threc-lobed, divided into three cells, con-
taining globular seeds, which are not ripened until the succeed-
ing spring, when the capsule rises above the ground upon a
strong peduncle.

HISTOHY.

. • * •#

Mi alow saffron is a , crennial bulbous-rooted plant, whicfe

grow in ^vct meadows in the temperate countries of Europe*

It fl< wers is the beginning of autumn, at which time the old

bulb begins to decay, and a new bulb to be formed. In the fol-

lowii May the new bulb is perfected,, and the old one wasted

and corrugated, They are dug for medical use in the beginning

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368 COMMON MEADOW SAFFRON.

of rammer. The sensible qualities of the fresh root are very
various, acoordiog to the place, of growth, and season of the
year. la autumn it is inert ; in the beginning of summer, highly
acrid : some have found it to be a corrosive poison ; others say
they hare eaten it in considerable quantity without experiencing
any effect. When it b possessed of acrimony, this is of the same
nature with that of garlic, and is entirely destroyed by drying.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

Stoerck, Collin, and Plenk, have celebrated its virtues as a
diuretic in hydrothorax and other dropsies. But it is at best a
very uncertain remedy. The expressed juice is used in Alsace
to destroy vermin in the hair.

From various obserrations on the effects of colchicum made
by baron Stoerck, and especially upon the infusion of three
grains of the fresh root in four ounces of wine, he remarked
that its diuretic power was very considerable, and therefore con.
duded that if its deleterious acrimony were destroyed, it might
p/ove in this character an efficacious medicine : accordingly he
digested an ounce of the recent root, sliced, in a pound of vin-
egar for forty-eight hours with a gentle heat ; the vinegar being
then strained, it proved acrid to the taste, constringed and irri-
tated the fences, and excited a slight cough ; to obviate which
be mixed the vinegar with twice its weight of honey, and gently
boiled it down to the consistence of honey, forming an oxymel
sufficiently grateful; and which, taken in doses of a drachm,
promoted a copious discharge of urine, without producing any
inconvenience from its acrimony, though it moderately stimu-
lated the fauces, and absterged the mucus. Thus, like the squill,
it was found both expectorant and diuretic; and the successful
nse of tills medicine, in various hydropic disorders in the hospital
at Vienna, equalled the baron's utmost expectations. He re*
commends, at first, a drachm of the oxymel to be given twice
a day in any suitable vehicle, and gradually to increase the dose
to an ounce or more in a day. Many other practitioners, who
employed the oxymel colchici in these complaints, also expe-
rienced its good effects, especially in Germany and France,
where it continues to be a favourite medicine: in England, how.
ever, the colchicum has been less successful, and is very gene-
rally thought a less efficacious diuretic than the squill, which
excels it still more as an expectorant The London college,

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COMMON MEADOW SAFFRON.

395

conformably to the practice of Stoerck, directs en oxymel col-
chid, and that of Edinburgh a syrup ; the latter, however, dif-
fers from the former only io using sugar instead of honey.

PREPARATION.

Syrup op Colchicum. (Syrupus Colchict Autnmnalis. E.)

Take of colchicum root, fresh, cut into thin slices, one ounce;

vinegar, sixteen ounces ;

■ ■ double refined sugar, twenty-six ounces :

Macerate the root in the vinegar two days, occasionally shaking
die vessel ; then strain the infusion with gentle expression. To
die strained infusion add the sugar, and boil a little, so as to
form a syrup.

. This syrup seems to be the best preparation of the colchicum.
We must take care to gather this root in the proper season ;
nd from errors in4his particular we are to ascribe the uncer-
tainty m the effects of this medicine as found in the shops. It
Is chiefly employed as a diuretic, and may be taken from a drachm
or two to the extent of an ounce, or more.

Oztmkx o? Meadow Saffron. (Oxymel Colchici. L. D.)

Take of the fresh root of meadow saffron, cut into thin slices,
one ounce:

distilled vinegar, one pint ;

clarified honey, two pounds by weight :

Macerate the root of meadow saffron with the vinegar in a glass
rental, with a gentle heat, for forty-eight hours. Strain the li-
quor, pressed out strongly from the root, and add the honey.
Lastly, boil the mixture, frequently stirring it with a wooden
900% to the thickness of a syrup. This is an active prepara.
boo, but its use may be entirely superseded by die syrup of the
root The dose given is a drachm to half an ounce.

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■

■
WATER DOCK.
RUME& HYDROLAPATHUM-

Class VI. Hexandria. Order III. Trigynia.
EMEfcrr. Gen. Char. Calyx triphylloas: Petals three , conniving: Sni

one, triquetrous.
Srsc Cba*. Fhwer bisexual : Fiifwt entire, graniferoaft : Leaves laoced-

late, acute.

DESCRIPTION.

1 his plant rises to five feet in height. The upper leaves arc
long, narrow, and on linear and pointed spikes ; those at the
bottom are near a foot and a half in length, of a narrow orate
form, somewhat indented, and stand upon long channelled foot-
stalks. The flowers are numerous, and hang in whorled spikes
upon slender peduncles. The calyx is cut into three pointed
segments. The corolla is composed of three petals, which are
orate, narrow, pointed. The capsule is composed of three pe-

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WATER DOCK. 365

tab, which by approaching each other assume a triangular form,
and in this state are called valves. The seed is solitary, orate,
triangular.

, HISTORY.

It is a native of England, and grows in ditches, pools, and
rivers. Flowers in July and August.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

Many of the lapatha were formerly officinal herbs, of which
the water dock has been esteemed to be the most efficacious, and
by the Edinburgh college is still retained in the Materia Medica :
the leaves, which manifest considerable acidity, are said to pos-
sess a laxative quality, and have therefore been used to obviate
costiveness: the roots are strongly astringent, and have been
much employed, both externally and iuternally, for the cure of
scurvy ; especially when the gums are spongy, and frequent hae-
morrhages supervene. It b also recommended in various other
cutaneous defoliations, and in vjsceral obstructions : and in
order to give the hydrolapathum additional importance, Mun-
tingius has taken great pains to prove that it is the Herba Bri-
tannica of the ancients ; but many physicians still think this root
does not pecuKarfy differ from other astringents, and are scep-
tical enough to place no faith in the great virtues ascribed to it
by Muntingiug, and our own countryman Sir John Hill.

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COMMON SORREL.

RUMEX ACETOSA,

Clots VI. Hexandria. Order III. Trigynia.
EktBNT. Gkjt. Char. Calyx triphyllous: Petals three, conniving: Seed one,

triquetrous*
Sp«C. Cba*« Flovers dioecious: Leaves oblong, sagittate.

DESCRIPTION.

It rises from one to two feet. The radical leaves are arrow.
.shaped, of a bright green colour, and stand upon long footstalks,
but those on the stem are without footstalks, and placed alter-
nate. The lowers arc produced in terminal spikes, tinged of a
reddish colour. The seeds arc single, and of a triangular shape.

VIRTUES.
Sorrel is made by the French into soup with milk, and form*
a refrigerant food, useful in phlogistic or inflammatory habits,
and in the scurry.

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HORSE CHESTNUT.

£SCULUS HIPPOCASTANUM.

Clan VI. Heptaodria. Order I. Monogynla.
Bisect. Gnr. Cha*. Calyx nonopbyllow, five-toothed, ▼entricote:

roilm five-petalied, unequally coloured, inserted on the calyx.
S#bc. Cbab. Leavu competed of tevea Urye lobet.

Co-

DESCRIPTION.

1 his beautiful tree grows to a great height The leares are
large, digitated, cut into seren divisions, which are long, ser-
rated, ribbed, of a pale green colour, and proceed from a com.
moo centre attached to a long footstalk. The flowers termi-
nate the branches in large conical spikes. The capsule is round,
tough, fleshy, beset with spines, difided into three Tabes, and
contain two or three roundish seeds of a shining brown colour.

HISTORY.

Though the castanea was well known to the ancients, yet

Matthiohu seems to be the first author who describes the horse

chestnut, which was brought into Europe about the middle of

the sixteenth century, and was so scarce in the time of Clusius

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368

HOUSE CHESTNUT.

that there was the? but one tree known at Vienna, which being
too young to bear fruit, nuts were obtained from Constanti-
nople in 1588, after which this tree was very generally propa-
gated. It was cultivated in England by Mr. John Tradescant
in 1633, and is now very common in this country. The wood
is white, soft, soon decays, and is therefore of little value. The
fruit in appearance resembles that of the Spanish chestnut, and
is eaten by sheep, goats, deer, oxen, and horses. It contains
much farinaceous matter, which by undergoing -a proper pro-
cess, so as to divest it of its bitterness and acrimony, probably
might afford a kind of bread : starch has been made of it, and
found to be very good : it appears also to possess a saponaceous
quality, as it is used, particularly in France and Switzerland,
for the purpose of cleaning woollens, and in washing and bleach-
ing linens.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

Its introduction into the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia was pro-
bably owing to its seed having been used and recommended as a
sternutatory in some cases of ophthalmia and headachv With this
yiew it was drawn up the nostrils in the form of an infusion or
decoction, or in the form of powder.

The bark has been proposed as an indigenous substitute for
the very expensive and often adulterated Peruvian bark. Many
successful experiments of its effects, when given internally in in-
termittent and typhous fever, and also when applied externally
in gangrene, sufficiently warrant future trials. Although che-
mical analysis is not yet sufficiently advanced to enable us to de-
termine from it the medical use of any substance, I may observe
that the active constituent of this bark is tannin, which is scarcely
compatible with the presence of cinch on In, the predominant, ami
probably the active, constituent of Peruvian bark. In powder
it may be given to the extent of a scruple and a half, or a drachm,
for a dose. Buchholz prefers a solution of a drachm of the ex-
tract in an ounce of cinnamon water, of which sixty drops are
to be given every three hours.

The bark intended for medicinal use is to be taken from those
branches which are neither very old nor \ery young, and io be
exhibited under similar forms and doses, as directed with resjwet
to die Cortex Peruvian us. It rarely disagrees with the stomach,
but its astringent effects generally require the occasional admi-
nistration of a laxative.

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MEZEREON.

DAPHNE MEZEREUM.

Emkrt.

Otoir VIII. Octandria. Order J. Monogynia.
Gnr. Char. CWotti four-cleft, withering , including the rta-
Iferry one-iecded.
Sfsc. Char. Flower* sessile, caoline : Leaves lanceolate, deciduous.

DESCRIPTION.
1 his shrub grows to the height of four or five feet, and sends
off several branches. The exterior bark is of a gray colour.
The leaves are few, tender, lance-shaped, and appear at the
termination of the branches after the flowers are expanded. The
flowers are in thick clusters, each composed of a single petal,
cut into four oval segments, of a bright red colour. They pro*
duce numerous red berries, containing one round seed.

2»

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370

MEZEREOK.

HISTORY.

It is a native of England, and is cultivated in our gardens oa
account of the beauty and earliucss of its flowers, which appear
in February and March.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

The berries arc extremely inviting, and as their acrimony is
not immediately perceived, the ignorant and unwary may be
tempted to eat them. 1 had once a sister who died an infant
from eating these berries. Withering relates, that twelve of
them being given to a child, it vomited blood, and died almost
immediately.

In this country the mczcreon is principally employed for the
cure of some siphyliiic complaints, and in this way Dr. Donald
Monro was the first who gave testimony of its efficacy in the
successful use of the Lisbon diet drink. A few months after
this, several cases were published by Dr. Russcl, then physician
to St. Thomas's hospital, fully establishing the utility of the
cortex mezerci in venereal nodes. He says, " The disease for
which I principally recommend the decoction of mezereon root,
as a cure, is the node, that proceeds from a thickening of the
membrane of the bones, which appears to be the cause of the
greatest part of those tumours, at least when recent. In a
thickening of the periosteum from other causes I have seen very
good effects from it." Hut in the nocturnal pains, accompanying
siphylis, unless occasioned by the node itself, he found it neces-
sary to join a solution of sublimate to the decoction. We may
also remark, .that Dr. Russcl never found the decoction to in-
crease any of the natural evacuations. Dr. Cullcn observes,
that " Dr.. Home has not only found this decoction to cure
scirrhous tumours, which remain after the lues venerea, and after
the use of mercury, but that it healed also some scirrhous tu-
mours from other causes ; and that he has employed it in se-
veral cutaneous affections, and sometimes with success."

The considerable and long continued heat and irritation that
is produced in the throat when mczcreon is chewed, induced Dr.
Withering to think of giving it in a case of difficulty of swallow-
ing, seemingly, occasioned by a paralytic affection. The patient
was directed to chew a thin slice of the root as often as she could
bear it, and in about a month recovered her power of swallow-
ing. This woman had suffered, the complaint three years, and

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MEZEREON.

371

ras greatly reduced, being totally unable to swallow solids, and
iquids bat very imperfectly.

It has also been used instead of a perpetual blister, occasion-
og infinitely less pain and inconvenience. For this purpose
. square piece of the recent bark, about an inch long, and
hree quarters of an inch broad, macerated a little in vinegar,
i applied to the skin, over which is bound a leaf of ivy or plan,
ain. This application is at first renewed night and morning,
ill it cauterizes the part and brings on a serous discharge, when
i renewal of the bark once in 24 hours is found sufficient to con-
inue the issue for any length of time. By means of suitable
blasters we conceive that it might be applied behind the ears to
elieve the eyes, and on a larger scale prore an useful practice in
nndry diseases. It must be observed, however, that it some-
Lines produces cutaneous eruptions, which Bergius attributes to
be absorption of the acrid particles of the bark.— 1. c. vide Essai
ur P Usage et les Effets de I'Ecorce da Gareu.

PRESCRIPTIONS.
R. 1. Take of sarsaparillaj two ounces;
■ liquorice root,

• — mezereon root, of each half an ounce;

■ shavings of guaiacum,

s shavings of sassafras wood, of each one ounce:

nfuse these ingredients in eight pints of boiling water for
wenty-four hodrs, then boil them until one half of the water
e consumed ; afterwards strain the decoction. Use this as a
iet drink, taking from a pint and a half to one quart during
lie day. This is employed as an assistant to a mercurial course
f alteratives, especially after mercury has been used for some
tine. It is an improvement on the Lisbon diet drink, and may
e given in rheumatism, and cutaneous disorders proceeding from
oulness of the blood and juices.
J^. 2. Take of mezereon root, two drachms ;

boiling water, two pounds :

toil to a pound. At the end of the boiling add liquorice root,
liced, one ounce : strain.

Two to four ounces are to be taken three or four times a day.
Viih this prescription alone Dr. Russel cured nofcs, &c, as
efore mentioned.

2b?

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•

BALSAM OF GILEAD.

AMYRIS GILEADENSIS.

CUutYlll. Octandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Ewmct. Gen. Cha«. Caiyx four-toothed: Petals four, oblong: Stigmt

tetragonal : Berry drupaceous.
Spec. Char. Leaves ternate : Peduncles one-flowered, lateral.

DESCRIPTION.

According to Mr. Bruce, the balessan or balm tree grows t<
the height of fourteen feet : its branches are numerous, spread
ing, crooked : the wood is white, soft, and covered with a smood
ash. coloured bark : the leaves are small, few, commonly con
sisttng of one pair of pinna?, with an odd one at the top : tin
pinnae are sessile, inversely ovate, entire, veined, and of a brigh
green colour : the flowers are scattered upon the branches, am
of a white colour : the calyx is permanent, and divided a
the brim into four small pointed teeth : the petals are four
small, oblong, concave, white : the filaments are eight, tapering
erect, and terminated by oblong anthcne : the gcrmen is egg
shaped, and placed above the insertion of the corolla : the sty!'

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BALSAM OF GILEAD.

373

s thick, of the length of the filaments, and terminated by a qua-
Irangular stigma : the fruit is of the drupaceous kind, roundish,
opening by four valves, and containing a smooth nut*

HISTORY.

Mr, Brace informs us that the balm tree is a native of. Abyssinia,
growing among the myrrh trees behind Azab, all along the coast,
o the Straits of Babelmandel ; and that it was early transplanted
nto the south of Arabia, and into Judaea 1000 years before the
[oeen of Sheba, who, according to Josephus, gave this tree,
imong other presents, to king Solomon.

" The bark of the balsam tree," Mr. Bruce says, " is cut with
to axe when the juice is in its strongest circulation, in July,
lugust, and the beginning of September. It is then received
nto a small earthen bottle, and every day's produce gathered
ind poured into a larger, which is kept closely corked. The
ipobaisamum, or juice flowing from the balsam tree, at first
vben it is received into the bottle or vase from the wound from
vhence it issues is of a light yellow colour, apparently turbid,
n which there is a whitish cast, which I apprehend are the glo-
yules of air that pervade the whole of it in its first state of fer-
nentation ; it then appears very light upon shaking. As it seU
lee and cools, it turns clear, and loses that milkiness which it
irst had when flowing from the tree into the bottle. It then has
lie colour of honey, and appears more fixed and heavy than at
int. After being kept for years, it grows of a much deeper
rellow, and o( the colour of gold. I have some of it which I
pot from the cadi of Medina in 1768 ; it is now still deeper h>
colour, full as much as the yellowest honey. It is perfectly
luid, and has lost very little either of its taste, smell, or weight.
["he smell at first is violent, and strongly pungent, giving a sensa-
ion to the brain like that of volatile salts when rashly drawn up
\y an incautious person. This lasts in proportion to its fresh-
ieas ; for, being neglected and the bottle uncorked, it quickly
oses this quality, as it probably will at last by age, whatever
are is taken of it"

The balsam which one tree yields is very small, and the col-
ecting of it is tedious and troublesome; hence it is so very scarce
hat the genuine balsam is rarely if ever exported in a commercial
ray. The best balsam, according to Alpinus, is at first turbid
tod white, of a yery strong pungent smell, like that of turpen-
ine, but much sweeter and more fragrant, and of a bitter, acrid,

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BALSAM OF GILEAD.

astringent taste : on being kept for some time it becomes thin,
limpid, light, of a greenish hue, and then of a gold yellow, after
which it grdws thick like turpentine, and loses much of its fra-
grance. Some compare the smell of this balsam to that of citrons,
others to that of a mixture of rosemary and sage flowers. The
chief mark of its goodness is said to be founded on this, that
when dropped on water it spreads itself all over the surface,
forming a thin pellicle, tough enough to be taken up upon the
point of a pin, and at the same time impregnating the water with
its smell and flavour.

i
MEDICAL VIRTUE.

It appears on Scripture authority, that the great value and use
of this drug remounts to very early ages*, as it seems coeval with
the India trade for pepper. To enumerate all the virtues and
medicinal cases still attributed to it by eastern nations would be
outraging the bounds of all rational credibility : but they who
arc desirous of this information may be gratified by consulting
Alpinus. European physicians consider it to be not essentiall)
different from other resinous fluids, or turpentines, especially ai
we find it imported here ; it is therefore generally believed thai
the Canada and Copaiva balsams will answer every purpose foi
which it can be employed, in Turkey it is not only in higl
esteem as a medicine, but also as an odoriferous unguent anc
cosmetic: its effects with respect to its last-mentioned use seen
to depend merely on its stimulating the skin ; for it is observe*
by lady Mary Wortley Montague, that the day after she hac
used the balsam her face became red and swollen ; an incon*
renience which she suffered for three days +.

• Balm and myrrh were carried by the Ishinaclites to Egypt.— Sei
Gen. ch. liivii. ver. 25.

The high opinion entertained of its virtues we learn from the following
verse in Jeremiah : — " Is there no balm in Gilead ? is there no physician
there ? why then is not the health of Uie daughter of my people recovered *"
— Ch. viii. ver. 22.

+ See Letter c.

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▲

..:..

■

SASSAFRAS TREE.

LAURUS SASSAFRAS.

Oats IX. Enneandria. Order I. Monegynia.

Essnrr. Gem. Char. Calyx none: Corolla calycine, six -parted: Ntctary
gUndoUr, three tubercles, terminating in bristly points, surrounding the
germen. Interior Filament glandultferous : Drupe one-seeded.

Sfec. Cbak. Leaves three lobed, entire.

DESCRIPTION.

It rises to a tree twenty or thirty feet high. The leares vary
in form and size, some being oval and entire, others cut into
lobes, of a pale green, veined, downy on the inside, and placed
alternate. Flowers in pendent spikes. *

HISTORY.
This tret is a native of North America, and is cultivated in
Jamaica. It is the wood which is commonly employed. It is
brought to us in long branched pieces. It is soft, light, and of

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370 SASSAFRAS TREE.

a spongy texture ; of a rusty white colour ; of a strong pleasant
smell, resembling that of fennel ; and a sweetish, aromatic sub-
acrid taste. The bark is rough, of a brown ash colour on the
outside, and ferruginous colour within $ spongy and divisible
into layers, and of a stronger taste and smell than the wood.

Neumann got from 480 grains 80 of alcoholic, and afterwards
CO of watery extract; and inversely, 120 watery, and 7*5 aU
coholic. In distillation alcohol elevates nothing, but water a
ponderous essential oil, in the proportion of about 10 from

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

Sassafras, from the quantity of volatile oil it contains, is
a gently stimulating, heating, sudorific, and diuretic remedy.

It is best given in infusion. The decoction and extract are
mere bitters, as the oil is dissipated by the preparation.

The essential oil may be obtained separate by distillation. It
is of a whitish yellow colour, and sinks in water. It is highly
stimulating and heating, and must be given only in very small*
doses.

PREPARATION.

Volatile Oil of Sassafras. (Oleum Volatile Lauri Sassafras.)

The dose is from two to ten drops. This is a powerful snV
mnlant It enters into what is called a decoction of the woods
(Decoctum Sarsaparill* compositnm), which see under the title
Sarsaparilla. See also the article Ouaiacum, with which it is
usefully combined*

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GREATER INDIAN CRESS,

NASTURTIUM.

TROPJEOLUM MAJUS.

CUus VIII. Octaudria. Order I. Monegynia.
Bawirr. Gew. Char. Calyx monophyllous> spurred : Petals five, unequal :

Berry three together, dry.
Irac. Cha*. Leaves peltate, sub-five-lobed : Petals obtue.

DESCRIPTION.

>talk trailing, succulent, stretching several feet Leaves
-oondish, peltate, marked by several radiated ribs, entire, placed
m long waving footstalks, attached to the centre of each leaf,
flowers large, of a bright crimson. Calyx juicy, like the sub-
tante, and of the colour of the corolla, with a large horn-like
leetary attached to it, cut into five segments, acute, erect, striate.
Corolla composed of five petals, roundish, the two upper bent
tack, marked with dark lines at the bases ; the three under are
Maided at the base.

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378 GREATER INDIAN CRESS, OH NASTURTIUM.

HISTORY.
This plant is native of Peru. It flowers in Jane till October,
and is now common in our gardens*

VIRTUES.

When bruised the leaves emit a pungent odour, with the smell
of horse-radish. By distillation we obtain both the smell aik
flavour of this plant* Hence, where the taste of scurvy-grass it
intolerable, we have a grateful substitute in the nasturtium oi
South America.

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GREATER BISTORT, or SNAKEWEED.

POLYGONUM BISTORTA.

daw VIII. Octandria. Order III. Trigynia.
Entmrr. Gem. Chah. Corolla five-parted, calydne : Seed one, angular.
Srsc. Cbab. 8tem simple, swelled at the joints: Lc*ve$ ovate, running
into the petiolei

DESCRIPTION.

The root is about the thickness of the little finger, of a blackish
colour on the outside, and reddish within ; it is writhed or bent
vernacularly (whence the name of the plant), with a joint at
each bending, and fall of bushy fibres : the root of this species
has, however, generally but one or two turns, others three or
more. The stalk is simple, about a foot and a half in height
Radical leaves oval, or rather heart-shaped; the upper leaves
narrower, undulated, and embrace the stem. The flowers are
clustered in a spike, and terminate the stem. These are of a
light red colour. The corolla is tubular, divided into five small
oval segments, which are at the base supplied with several nee
tariferous glands.

HISTORY.

Bistort grows wild in moist meadows in Britain, and flowers
in May.

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380

GREATER BISTORT, OR SNAKEWEED.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

Dr. Cullen observes, that the bistorta, " both by its seosibl
qualities, aod by the colour it gives with green vitriol, and b;
the extracts it affords, seems to be one of the strongest of oo
Tegetable astringents, and is justly commended for every virtu
that has been ascribed to any other. As such we have frequent!
employed it, and particularly in intermittent fevers, and i
larger doses than those commonly mentioned in Materia Medic
writers. Both by itself, and along with gentian, we havegivei
it to the quantity of three drachms a day." The dose of th
root in substance is from a scruple to a drachm.

The great Boerhaave recommends u a decoction of it, or th
tincture, for fixing of loose teeth, diabetes, a too abundant fie
male relief, in passing of blood by any outlet, vomiting, diai
rhcea, and to prevent miscarriages. lie says that the bistort an
tormentil root have an equal claim to astringency, and there
fore equal virtues."

" Haec planta a virtute adstringente laudatur quam maxim
ita, ut nullum medicamcntum scopo adstringente praescribatui
quin ingrediatur bistorta: et torment ilia; radix, quae pari pass
ambulant, sic at hie habeamus maximum roborans et adstringens
ita ut in omni morbo, ubi statim rhabarbarum et herbam pa
tientiae laudavi quoad partem adstrtngentem, conveniat; si vcr
cum aceto Tel vino coquatur, turn hoc decoctum est optimut
ad dentes vacillantes lavandos, et hoc modo dentis tormenta
laxitate curantur, si decoctum ad locum acccdere possit: hinc i
omni morbo comrenit, ubi nimia fibrarum laxitas adest, ut i
diabete humorum, in haemorrhagiis, in fluxu mensium nimic
mictu sanguineo, in vomitu, diarrhoea et praacavendo abortu."

lil

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CAMPHOR TREE.

LAURUS CAMPHORA.

Clou IX. Enneandria. Order I. Moaogynia.

Eheht. Geh. Char. Calyx none : Corolla calcyne, six-parted : Noctarg
glandular, three tubercles, terminating in bristly points, surrounding the
germen : Interior Filament glanduliferous : Drupe one-seeded.

Sfbc. Char. Leaves lanceolate-ovate.

DESCRIPTION.
1 his tree grows to a considerable height. Leaves ovate, lance-
shaped, entire, smooth, nerved, on the upper side of a pale yel-
lowish green, on the nnder glaucous, standing upon long foot-
stales. The flowers are smalt, white, on long footstalks, pro-
ceeding from the alae of the leaves. No calyx. The corolla is
composed of six ovate, concave, unequal petals.
HISTORY.
The camphor laurel grows in great abundance, and to a very
considerable size, in the forests of Japan. It is not uncommon
in green-houses in England. Every part of the tree smells
strongly of camphor, which is obtained from the trunk, branches,
and root, by distillation. They are cut down into small pieces,

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382

CAMPHOR TREE.

and put into a still with a proportion of water. After th
water has been kept boiling forty-eight hoars, the camphor i
found adhering to the straw with which the head of the still i
lined. In this state it is imported by the Dutch, and is callc
crude camphor. It is very impure, consisting of small brownis
or dirty -gray grains, mixed with straw, wood, hair, and othc
impurities. From these it is purified in Holland by a secon
sublimation in glass vessels ; being previously mixed with quick
lime, to combine with and prevent any empyreuraatic oil wit
which it may be contaminated from subliming, while the cam
phor concretes in the upper part of the vessel into cakes, conve
on the one side and concave on the other, about two or thre
inches thick, thinner at the edges, and generally perforated i
the middle.

Pure camphor is lighter than water, very white, pellucid
somewhat unctuous to the touch, brittle, yet tough and elastic
so as to be scarcely pulverizable ; shining in its fracture, an
crystalline in its texture; of a bitterish, aromatic, pungent taste
yet accompanied with a sense of coolness, of a strong and ver
penetrating smell ; very volatile, inflammable, burning cntirel;
away, without leaving any coal or ashes ; capable of combining
with the resins and balsams ; soluble in alcohol, aether, fixed am
volatile oils, and the concentrated sulphuric, nitric, muriatic
fluoric, and acetic acids ; separable from these alcoholic and aci<
solutions by water ; insoluble in water, alkalis, and the wcake
acids; decomposed by heat, when mixed with alumina, into ai
essential oil and charcoal; and by treating it with a sufikien
quantity of nitric acid, forming a portion of camphoric acid
and by treating it with sulphuric acid, forming artificial tannin.

But the production of camphor is not confined to the Lauru!
camphora, although it furnishes almost all the camphor of com-
merce; it is found in very great purity in interstices among th<
woody fibres of an unknown tree in Borneo ; it is also con-
tained in the roots of the Laurus cinnamomura and cassia, Alpiuia
galanga, Amomum zedoaria, kc. ; in the seeds of the Amomuir
cardamom um, Piper cubeba, &c. ; and in many indigenous plants.
as in the Thymus serpyllum and vulgaris, Juniperus communis^
Rosmarinus officinalis, Salvia officinalis, Mentha pipcrata, &c. ;
and may be separated from the essential oils of rosemary, Liven-
dar, marjoram, and sage. An artificial camphor may also be
prepared, by directing a stream of muriatic acid gas into oil of

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CAMPHOR thee.

38S

pentine, differing from common camphor in not being solu-
\ in weak nitric acid, nor being precipitated by water from its
ntion in strong nitric acid. Camphor is now universally con-
ered as a peculiar principle of vegetables, and not as a resin,
stated by the Dublin college.

MEDICAL USE.

Camphor is a very active substance when taken into the sto-
len. It increases the heat of the body considerably, and gives
tendency to diaphoresis, but without quickening the pulse. At
it it raises the spirits, but produces a subsequent depression,
d facilitates voluntary motion. In excessive doses it causes
ncope, anxiety, retchings, convulsions, and delirium. These
>lent effects of camphor are most effectually counteracted by
num.

Id a morbid state of the body, camphor allays inordinate actions,
hen the pulse is hard and contracted, it renders it fuller and
fter. It removes spasms, and flitting pains arising from
asms ; and in delirium, when opium fails of procuring sleep,
mphor will often succeed. It is also said to correct the bad
ects of opium, mezereon, cantharides, and the drastic purga-
es and diuretics. The most general indication for the use of
mphor, is the languor or oppression of the vis vitce.
Dr. Cullen gives us the following account of this important
medy : — Camphor has been employed in fevers of all kinds,
rticularly in nervous fevers attended with delirium and much
itch fulness ; and m such I have frequently employed it with
vantage. Some time ago I have often seen it employed by
y fellow-practitioners in such cases ; and that the good effects
* it did not always appear, I imputed to its being used only
small quantities. Since we came into the free use of wine
id opium, camphor has been little employed in the practice of
is country. The use of it, however, has been very fully esta-
ished by some of the most eminent physicians on the continent ;
oong these I reckon the late learned and experienced Werlhoff,
bo often employed it in many Inflammatory diseases with great
mefit, and plainly gives us his opinion in favour of its refri-
jrant power.

The use of this medicine has been especially remarkable in
itrid fevers, of which, indeed, we have not many instances in
lis country ; but from -the very remarkable antiseptic powers

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384

CAMPHOA TREE.

which it discovers In experiments oat of the body, it is veryp
bable, that when thrown into the body in large quantities,
that at least its more subtile parts may be diffused over the wh
system, it may be expected to produce considerable antisef
effects. Its power in resisting and curing gangrene, in the
periments of Collin, are very remarkable; but whether t
power be owing to its antiseptic virtue alone, or to its operat
at the same time on the nervous system, I would not rashly <
termine.

Both from its use in low, or what are called malignant fev<
and from its antiseptic powers, it is highly probable that it
been oT great service in the confluent small-pox. It is also lik
that it may be of service in favouring the eruption of exaut
mata, and of bringing tyem back to the skin, when from s
cause they had suddenly receded, though I have no partict
experience of this.

These are the cases of acute diseases in which camphor
been useful ; and its use in many chronic cases is equally v
authenticated. Whenever diseases depend upon a mobility
the nervous power, and an irregularity of its motions, it n
be expected that such a powerful sedative should be of servi
Accordingly, many practitioners have reported its virtues
hysteric and hypochondriac cases ; and I myself have had f
quent experience of it.

In spasmodic and convulsive affections it has also been of s
vice; and even in epilepsy it has been useful. I have not,
deed, known an epilepsy entirely cured by camphor alone, 1
I have had several instances of a paroxysm, which was expec
in the course of a night, prevented by a dose of camphor ex
bited at bed-time; and even this when the camphor was gh
alone: but it has been especially useful when given with a di
of cuprum ammoniacum, of white vitriol, or of the flowers
zinc.

Since the report of Dr. Kinnicr, in the Philosophical Trai
actions, vol. xxxv., camphor has been often employed
cases of mania; and I have given above an account of a ti
which I had made of it. In that case, however, it was not si
cessful ; nor in several other trials has it been more so with n
or other practitioners in this country.

We have had here lately, in a patient under the rare of A
Lata, surgeon, a iiotable example of. the use of camphor

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CAMPHOR TREE. 385

a maniacal case, which I think it proper to take notice of
- here.

This shows clearly enough the power of camphor in mania ;
and I hare only to add, that though in several, other instances
it has not made a cure, it has not in any instance of a moderate
dose, that is, not exceeding half a drachm, occasioned any dis-
order in the system ; and .in set eral cases it has induced sleep,
and rendered the mind for some time more quiet.

I observe that by large doses De Berger has been more success*
ful ; and perhaps the reason of our failure has been our not attend-
ing to his admonition. In his letter to Werlhoff on the subject of
camphor he has the following passage: " Multoties hoc remedio
ib mea praxi utor, praecipue in inflammationibtiS interrtis, magtto
cam successu, et demiror tarn multos medicos ab usu ejus interno
abhorrere. Non diu est, quod praemissis praemittendis maniacum
eo sanitati penitus restitui. In eo vero momentum praecipuum
sttum est, ut sufficiente dosi et diu satis exhibeatur."

This is particularly confirmed by a case given by Joerdens in
the Commercium Norimbergense. In several other writers there
are Accounts of maniacal and melancholic cases cured by the use
of camphor ; but many of the practitioners who report sudi cures
acknowledge, that in many cases it had disappointed their ex-
pectations. Whether these failures have been owing to the not
employing at the same time nitre, vinegar, and some other re-
medies which are supposed to contribute much to the virtues of
camphor, we would not determine ; but we are Clear that mania
b a disease of considerable diversity with respect to its causes,
and that there are certain cases of it only to which camphor is
properly adapted. In cases of an organic affection of the brain,
it is hardly to be supposed that camphor or any other remedy
can be of use.

I have mentioned above that several practitioners have em-
ployed camphor in the most acute inflammatory diseases ; and
therefore we are dot surprised to find that it has been given also
internally in cases of acute rheumatism ; and it is said to bate
been with advantage. We have no experience of it, because we
have found another method of cure generally successful ; but I
take this occasion to mention its external use as often of great
service in removing the rheumatic pains of the joints or muscles.
This we have often experienced, and have no doubt of camphor

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386 CAMPHOR TREE.

baring a peculiar power in taking off the inflammatory state ii
cases both of rheumatism and gout. In the case of rheumatisc
it is a matter of common experience ; in the case of gout it I
more rare ; but I have had the following particular example o
it A gentleman had brought from the East Indies an oil c
camphor, a native substance, which seemed, by its smell an
taste, to be no other than camphor in that form, and which
perceive to be mentioned by naturalists as a native substance
produced by several trees in the East Indies. This the perso
possessed of recommended to all his acquaintances as an iufalli
ble remedy for gout and rheumatism ; and a gentleman who ha
often laboured under the gout, and then felt the pains of it un
usually severe, Mas persuaded to apply it. Re had then th
gout exceedingly painful in the ball of the great 'toe, and inste
of one foot. On this part he rubbed a quantity of the oil t
camphor; and in about half an hour, or a little more, hews
entirely freed from the pain he had before. In less, howevei
than an hour after, he had a pain and inflammation come upo
the same part of the other foot. As the pain here became preit
severe, he again employed the oil of camphor, and with the sani
effect of soon relieving the pain very entirely. The consequent
of this was also the same ; for in less than an hour the pain an
inflammation returned to the foot that had been first affected
and here again our patient, obstinate in persisting in the tri;
of his remedy, again applied the oil, and he had the same su<
cess as before in relieving the part affected, and with the sail
effect also of occasioning a translation. But here the traush
tion being made to the knee, the patient abstained from an
further application of the oil, and suffered the pain of the km
to remain for a day or two, and till it went off by some swellic
and desquamation in the usual manner.

This history shows sufficiently the power of camphor in relies
ing the inflammatory spasm and pain of the part chieily affected
but at the same time that it has no effect on the diathesis of tl
system, and that, when that subsists, as camphor is ready I
occasion a translation, it will always be employed in gouty cas<
with great danger. In cases of acute rheumatism we have ha
occasion to remark, that a strong solution of camphor in o
would relieve the pain of the joint for the time chiefly affected
but it was very often with the translation of it to another joii

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CilifrlfO* *RBB; 387

toon after ; and we have therefore long ago ceased from employ*
iog such an application in all cases when an acute rheumatism
was very general and strong in the system.

It may be supposed that it is analogous to this power of cam-
phor in taking off an inflammatory states that this medicine has
been often found so useful in relieving toothach ; and I hare nd
doubt that camphor operates by the power mentioned in reliev-
ing toothach, but it is also by exciting a copious flow of saliva
and mucus from the internal surface of the month, that water
somewhat impregnated with camphor, employed to wash the
month, has been frequently of service in relieving the disease*

However it may be with respect to toothach, we have no*
doubt that the antiphlogistic nature of camphor may be of use
in caring ophthalmia ; and this gives a good ground for tho many
attempts that have been made to introduce camphor into the me-
dicines intended to be employed externally in the cure of oph-
thalmia.

We have now mentioned many of the virtues of camphor as
employed by itself, and must now mention some instances of its
peculiar ntifity when combined with other medicines.

When combined with drastic purgatives, it is said to moderate
their acrimony, and thereby their violent operation. We have
not, indeed, perceived this, and perhaps never tried it in a proper
manner ; but in the mean time the respectable authority of Mr.
Lasonne, the father, satisfies roe that it is well founded.

Another opinion that has been very general is, that camphor;
has the power of correcting the acrimony of cantharides. In
opposition to this, we would not quote the facts given by Dr.
Heberden of two several instances in which camphor seemed to
occasion strangury ; for I must conclude these facts to have been
very accidental occurrences, as I have employed camphor fifty
times, even in large doses, without my ever ^observing its hating
any effect upon the urinary passages. Mr. Lasonne, the father,
has observed, as I hate done frequently, that camphor, though
given very largely, never discovers its smell in the urine, whilst
It frequently does it in the perspiration and sweat.

It was formerly a frequent practice in this country to anoint a
blistering plaster that was to be applied to the back, or other
part, with camphorated oil, and this with a view of preventing
strangury from the cantharides. The practice, however, has
i long ago laid aside, because it was perceived that, in most
2c %

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388 CAMPHOR TREE.

persous, if the plaster was allowed to continue applied for aboi
twelve hours, and while at the same time it was omitted to gii
the patient a large quantity of drink, a strangury would con
, on notwithstanding the unction of camphorated oil, and even tl
exhibition of a quantity of camphor internally. The practitione;
of this country have lost their faith in the power of camphor i
correcting the acrimony of cant harides ; and for preventing tl
strangury that might otherwise arise, they trust entirely to
large exhibition of Arabic emulsion, and to the piasters n<
being allowed to lie on too long.

Another virtue ascribed to camphor in combination, is i
moderating the action of mercury ; and if the saline prepararioi
of mercuny are triturated with a portion of camphor, this ab
tracts a part of the acid that had been united with the mercur
and therefore renders the preparation more mild than befor
and at the same time does not deprive etui rely the preparatic
of much of its deobstrueut virtue. Tins we have had cxperien
of in that very acrid pieparatiou of mercury the tnrbeth miner:
and also in the uiercurius dulcis or calomel, which, by beii
triturated with camphor, become less purgative, and less reai
to excite salivation. How far this mitigation of the preparatio:
of mercury leaves them equal!) powerful as before in the cure
niphylis, i cannot certainly determine ; bat am of opinion th
it does not, if they be employed in the same quantities as tin
would have been before.

This mitigation of the saline preparations of mercury, by
combination with camphor, will be readil) admitted; but mat
practitioners go further, and allege that mercury, in every coi
dition, united with camphor, becomes a more mild substanc
less irritating to the system, while it is equally powerful i
curing the diseases to which it is otherwise adapted. I inu
admit the experience of the practitioners of France in this ma
ter, but those of this country know nothing of it; and I ca
assert, that in many trials a quantity of camphor added to 01
common mercurial ointment, neither prevented the unction, i
the usual quantity, from exciting salivation, nor rendered tl
symptoms of it more mild than usual.

A peculiar combination of camphor, said to have considcrab
effects, is that with opium. The employment of opium is i
mauy persons attended with some inconvenience and disordc
as I have obserxed abo\e; and every practitioner knows it i

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CAMPHOR TREE. 389

be alleged by some respectable persons, that camphor joined
with it prevents these disorders. It may be so, but I have not
found it in my experiments. 1 have found large doses of cam-
phor dispose to sleep, but commonly with that same confusion
of head, and turbulent dreams, which sometimes arise from the
use of opium ; and 1 have not found that a small quantity of
camphor has any effects in increasing the power of opium, or of
rendering the operation of it different from what it would have
been if employed alone. But against the respectable authorities
of Lasonne and Halle, I must suspect that my experiments have
not been made properly, or often enough.

There is still another instance of the improvement of a medi-
cine by a combination with camphor. Air. Lasonne assures us
that camphor, joined with the Peruvian bark, gives it more
energy and force, whether it be to be employed for the pur-
pose of curing fever or gangrene ; and I believe this to be well
founded.

After thus treating of the virtues of camphor, we must speak
of its dose and exhibition. It will appear clearly from what is
said above, that it may be given in doses of very different quan-
tities ; and it appears to me from many trials, that doses of a
few grains, repeated only after long intervals, have hardly any
effect at all, and that, to obtain sensible effects from it, it must
either be given in large doses, not under that of twenty grains, or,
if given in smaller doses, these must be repeated frequently after
short intervals. The latter practice is preferred by some emi-
nent practitioners. To what length in either way we may pro-
ceed, I have not experience enough to determine with any pre-
cision. From the effects of two scruples ghen in one dose in
the case narrated above, and in another quoted from Dr. Hoff-
man, it would appear that such doses are violent and dangerous;
but from some other experiments it appears that larger doses
have been sometimes given with impunity : and when it is given
in divided doses, it appears from Collin's experiments that it may
be given to the quantity of a drachm, or two drachms in the
coarse of a day ; and in one of his experiments it was given to
the quantity of half an ounce: and the same will appear from
the history which I have given above. It is probable (hat from
large doses only considerable effects are to be expected ; and as,
from many experiments, it appears that the effects of camphor
are not very durable in the body, it will be obvious that the

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390

.CAMPHOR TREE.

repeated and long continued use of it may be necessary to tl
cure of several diseases.

With respect to the exhibition of this medicine, it is, in tl
first place, necessary that it should be always very minutely d
Tided, as we know' it is not readily dissolved in the stomach
and while it remains there it will float on the surface of the oth<
contents, and in that way be applied to the upper orifice of tl
Stomach, and give occasion to some pain there. It ought then
fore to be minutely divided before it be given ; and this may 1
done by rubbing it first in a mortar with any dry powder, sue
as nitre,. or hard sugar: but to make certain of a minute dii
sion, it is proper at the same time to add a few drops of reditu
spirit of wine, or of other such spirituous menstruum as the sp
ritus vitrioli dnlcis, or liquor anodynus mineral is of Hoffman.

It may also be divided by rubbing it with the mucilage of gui
Arabic ; but this will also be more perfectly executed if the can
phor is previously dissolved by a little spirit of wine or express*
oil. By its being diffused in the mucilage of gum Arabic, it ma
be again diffused in any watery fluid for more convenient exh
bition ; but it is to be observed, that camphor diffused in avi
tery fluid is ready {o exhale from it, or rise to its surface, ar
to render the exhibition more disagreeable. When, therefor
any large quantity of water in which camphor is diffused is i
be prepared at once, it is proper to employ some means for ex
tangling the camphor. Sugar alone does not seem to be sufticiei
for the purpose ; and it is more effectually done bv trituralir
the camphor with mucilage alone, or with a portion of sw©
almonds, and diffusing it again by means of mucilage into a
emulsion.

It has been thought that the virtues may be increased by es
hibiting along with it a portion of nitre; but in many trials
have not been sensible of the benefit derived from the nitn
which, in any quantity that can be conveniently employed, ha
little effect on the system. It is wilh more probability alleged
that vinegar exhibited with camphor is of service. Vinegar cer
tainly gives the best means of correcting the taste of camphor
and seems even to render it less disagreeable to the stomach
and we may allow that, both by its refrigerant and antiseptii
powers, it may contribute somewhat to the virtues of the cam.
phor.

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CAMPHOR TREE. 391

PREPARATIONS.
1. Camphorated Mixture. (Mistnra Camphorata. L. D.)
Take of camphor, one drachm (one scruple, D.);

rectified spirit of wine, a little (ten drops, D.);

double refined sugar, half an ounce;

boiling distilled water, (water, one pint, D.):

Rob the camphor first with the spirit of wine, then with the
sugar ; lastly, add the water by degrees, and strain the mixture.

% Camphorated Emulsion. (Emulsio Camphorata. E.)

Take of camphor, one semple ;

sweet almonds, blanched, two drachms ;

■ double refined sugar, one drachm ;

■ water, six ounces :

This last is made in the same manner as the common almond
emulsion. Neither of these mixtures are very permanent, as the
camphor separates and swims upon the surface in the course of
a few days. As extemporaneous prescriptions, they are, how.
ever, rery convenient modes of exhibiting that active drug, and
may be given to the extent of a table-spoonful every three or
lour hours in cases of lowncss. The latter is the more pleasant
remedy, and of equal efficacy.

X Camphorated Tincture of Opium. Paregoric Elixir.
(Tinctura Opii Camphorata. L. ; sive Elixir Paregoricum. D.)

Take of hard purified opium, in powder,

benzoic acid, of each one drachm ; .

camphor, two scruples;

essential oil of aniseed, one drachm ;

proof spirit of wine, two pints :

Digest for ten days (seven, D.), and strain.

In this formula the virtues of the opium and the camphor are
combined. It gets an agreeable flavour from the acid of benxoin
and essential oil. The latter will also render it more stimu-
lating ; but whether it derives any salutary virtues from the for*
mer, we do not know. It was originally prescribed under the
title of Elixir Asthmaticum, which it does not ill deserve. It
contributes to allay the tickling which provokes frequent cough-
ing ; and at the same time it is supposed to open the breast, and
give greater liberty of breathing. It is given to children against
the chincough, &c. from five drops to twenty ; to adults, from .

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39S

CAMPHOR TREE.

twenty to a hundred. Half an ounce, by measure, contain
about a grain of opium. Much abuse is made of this : recours
is had to it upon every trivial cold, and it is often taken withoo
a knowledge of its containing so large a proportion of opium
when a fatal habit is induced, with all the pernicious conse
quences of opium. It is a very heating remedy.

4. Camphorated Acetic A cm. (Acidum Accticum Campho
ratum. D. Acidum Acctosum Camphoratum. E.)

Take of acetic acid, six ounces by measure ;

camphor, half an ounce :

Reduce the camphor to powder, by triturating it with a littl
alcohol ; then dissolve it in the acid.

The alcohol in this preparation is used merely to facilitate fh
reduction of the camphor to powder ; for the strong acctou*
or, as wc would rather call it, the acetic acid, is capable c
dissolving even a larger proportion of camphor than is directe
in the above formula.

This solution \s a powerful analeptic remedy. Its vapou
snuffed up the nostrils, which is the only method of using it, i
one of the most pungent stimuli we possess. It is so extremel
volatile and corrosive, that it is difficult to preserve, except i
glass phials with round glass stoppers, or in small gold bo\e:
such as are used for Henry's aromatic spirit of vinegar, for whic
it is, in fact, an officinal substitute.

6. Tincture o? Camphor. Camphorated Spirit op Wini
(Tinctura Camphors, vulgo Spiritus VinosusCaniphoratus. E
Spiritus Campho rat us. L, D.)

Take of camphor, one ounce, E. D., four ounces, L.

alcohol, one pound, E., two pints, L., eight ounce)

by measure, D.:

Mix them together that the camphor may be dissolved.

(It may also be made with a double, triple, &c. proportion c

camphor, E.)

These solutions *of camphor are only employed for ex term
uses, against rheumatic pains, paralytic numbnesses, in flam ma
tions, for discussing tumours, preventing gangrenes, or restrain
ing their progress. They are too pungent to be exhibited in
ternally, and cannot be diluted with water without being total I
decomposed.

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CAMPHOR TREE. 393

6. Compound Soap Liniment. ( Linimen turn Saponis Compo-

situm. L. Linimen turn Saponis. D.)

Take of camphor, one. ounce ;

soap, three ounces;

■ spirit of rosemary, one pint :

Digest the soap in the spirit of rosemary until it be dissolved,
and add to it the camphor. This is useful to excite action on
the surface, and is used to disperse scrophulous enlargements,
and to moisted flannel with, and apply it to the throat, in cases
of quinsey. It is a more lasting stimulus than the camphorated
spirit of wine abore.

7. Tincture op Soap with Opium, formerly Anodyne Lini-
ment. (Tinctura Saponis et Opii, olim Linimcntum Ano-
dynum. E.)

This is prepared in the same way, and from the same sab-
stances, as the simple tincture of soap, but with the addition,
from the beginning, of

Opium, one ounce.

These tinctures are only used externally, and possess great
efficacy in removing local pains, when rubbed on the affected
part. The London and Dublin colleges have omitted the ano-
dyne liniment, probably as it may be easily prepared extern-
poraoeoosly, by mixing a proportion of laudanum with soap

liniment.

PRESCRIPTIONS.

fy. I. Take of camphor (reduced to powder by adding a few.
drops of proof spirit of wine), grains 8,

antimonial powder - grain's 3,

conserve of orange-peel, as much as is sufficient :

Make into a bolus, to be taken every six hours. Given in low
nervous fevers.
• Ifc. £• Take of camphor,

Russian castor,

musk, of each reduced to powder, grains 5 ;

■ syrup of white poppy, as much as is sufficients

Make into a bolus, to be taken three times a day. This is given
in the last stage of putrid fever, when hiccough comes on.
fy. 3. Take of prepared kali - - - scruples 1,

lemon juice - • ounce ^

camphorated mixture « drachms 12:

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CAMPHOR TREE.

Given

Make into a draught, to be taken every four honrs.
what are called nervous disorders.

R. 4. Take of camphorated mixture - . • ounces 6,

water of acetated ammonia . ounces 2 :

Take four table-spoonfuls every six hours* Given under tl
same circumstances expressed above.

{£. 5. Take of compound soap liniment, ounces 2£,

tincture of opium - ounce £:

A little of this is* to be rubbed over the pained part three <
four times a day.'

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CINNAMON TREE.

LAURtTS CINNAMOMUM.

Class IX. Enneaodria. Order I. Monogynia.
Embttt. Gew. Char. The same as the preceding.

8rsc. Caaa. Leavet three-nerved, ovate-oblong ; nerves towards the apex
evanescent.

DESCRIPTION.

1 his tree rises twenty feet in heiglft, aod extends six feet.
It ha* numerous branches, which are covered with a smooth
bark. The leaves are opposite, in pairs, upon short footstalks,
ovate-oblong, entire, firm, from three to five inches long, of a
.bright green colour, and marked with three whitish longitudinal
nerves. The flowers grow from the younger branches, and form
a kind of paniculated umbel. The petals are six, oval, pointed,
coqeave, spreading, of a greenish white colour. The fruit k

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596

CINNAMON TREE.

P°Ipy> pericarp resembling a small olive, of a deep blue colour,
containing an oblong nut.

HISTORY.

This valuable tree is a native of Ceylon, where it was guarded
with unremitting jealousy by the Dutch, that they might mono-
polize the commerce of its productions. They failed, however,
in the attempt ; and the cinnamon tree is now propagated, not
only in other parts of the East Indies, but also in Jamaica, and
other islands of the West Indies. Ceylon now belongs to the
British, and captain Pcrcival has published a very interesting
account of the cinnamon tree. It is found in greatest perfection
in the immediate neighbour!) ood of Col umbo, and grows from
four to ten feet high, very bushy. The leaves resemble those
of the laurel, and, when chewed, have the hot taste and smell
of cloves. The blossom is white and very abundant, but dif-
fuses no odour. The fruit resembles an acorn, and a species of
fixed oil is obtained from it. There arc several different species
of cinnamon 'trees, or trees resembling them, in Ceylon^ but
four only are barked by government ; the honey cinnamon, the
snake cinnamon, the camphor cinnamon, which is inferior to
these, and yields camphor from its roots, and mixed with gum
from incisions made into it, and the cabatte cinnamon, which is
harsher and more astringent than the others. The bark is col-
lected at two seasons; the grand harvest lasts from April to
August, the little harvest is in December. Such branches as are
three years old are lopped otf ; the epidermis is then scraped off,
the bark slit up, loosened, and removed entire so as to form a
tube open at one side. The smaller of these are inserted within
the larger, and they are spread out to dry. They are then
packed up in bundles. The tasting of these bundles to ascertain
their quality is a very disagreeable duty imposed on the snrgeons.
It excoriates the tongue and mouth, and causes such intolerable
pain as renders it impossible for them to continue the occupa-
tion two or three days successively. In their turns, however,
they are obliged to resume it, and they attempt to mitigate the
pain by occasionally eating a piece of bread and butter. It is
then made up into large bundles about four feet long, and eighty
pounds in weight. In stowing the bales on shipboard, the in-
terstices are filled up with black pepper, a practice which is sup-
posed to improve both spices.

The best cinnamon is rather pliable, and ought not much to

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CINNAMON TREE. 397

exceed stout writing paper in thickness. It is of a light yellowish
colour ; it possesses a sweet taste, not so hot as to occasion pain,
and not succeeded by any after, taste. The inferior kind is di-
stinguished by being thicker? of a darker and brownish colour,
hot, and pungent when chewed, and succeeded by a disagreea-
ble bitter after- taste. The Dutch were accused of deteriorating
their cinnamon by mixing it with a proportion of real cinna-
mon, but which had been deprived of its essential oil by distil-
lation. This fraud could only be detected by the weaker smell
and taste. It is also often mixed with cassia bark. This last
is easily distinguishable by its fracture being smooth, and by its
slimy mucilaginous taste, without any thing of the roughness of
the true cinnamon.

By distillation with water it furnishes a small quantity of very
pungent and fragrant oil; the water itself remains long milky,
and Has a strong flavour of cinnamon. The watery extract in
Neumann's experiment amounted to 720 from .7680 parts. With
alcohol the oil does not arise in distillation, but remains in the
extract, which amounts to 960.

The essential oil of cinnamon has a whitish yellow colour, a
pungept burning taste, and the peculiar fine flavour of cinnamon
in a very great degree* It should sink in water, and be en-
tirely soluble in alcohol. It is principally prepared in Ceylon.

MEDICAL USE.

Cinnamon is a very elegant and useful aromatic, more grateful
both to the palate and stomach than most other substances of .
this class. Like other aromatics, the effects of cinnamon are
stimulating, heating, stomachic, carminative, and tonic ; but it
is rather used as an adjunct to other remedies than as a remedy
itself.

The oil is one of the most powerful stimulants we possess, and
is sometimes nsed as a cordial in cramps of the stomach, and in
syncope ; or as a stimulant in paralysis of the tongue, or to
deaden the nerve in toothach. But it is principally employed as
an aromatic, to cover the disagreeable taste of other drugs.

PREPARATIONS.

1. Water. of Cinnamon. (Aqua Lauri Cinnamomi.)

A ponnd of bruised cinnamon is to be macerated for a day.

Thu> is one of the most elegant ingredients in the composition

•f prescriptions, and admirably covers the disagreeable taste of

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398

CINNAMON TREE.

most drugs, and in some instance* readers medicines extremely
pleasant ; which under certain circumstances is a great recom-
mendation.

% Tincture of Cinnamon. (Tinctura Laori Cinnamomi. E.)

Take of cinnamon, bruised, three ounces ;
■ diluted alcohol, two pounds and a half:

Digest for seven days, and strain through paper.

Tincture of Cinnamon. (Tinctura CinnaraomL L. D.)

Take of cinnamon, bruised, one ounce and a half (three ounces
and a half, D.);

■ proof spirit of wine, one pint (two piuts, D.):
Digest for seven days, and strain. .

The tincture of cinnamon possesses the astringent virtues of
the cinnamon, as well as its aromatic cordial ones ; and in this
respect it differs from the spirit prepared by distillation.

This is added by way of covering the taste of drugs, and as a
cordial adjunct, in the dose of two drachms.

3. Compound Tincture of Cinnamon, formerly Aromatic
Tincture. (Tinctura Cinnamomi Composita, olim Tinctura
Aromatica. E.)

Take of cinnamon, bruised,

■ lesser cardamom seeds, bruised, each one ounce;

long pepper, in powder, two drachms ;

■ dilated alcohol, two pounds and a half:
Digest for seven days, and filter through paper.

Load. Dub.

Take of cinnamon, bruised, six drachms;

■ lesser cardamom seeds, without the capsules, three
drachms;

long pepper, in powder,

ginger, in powder, of each two drachms ;

■ proof spirit, two pints :

Mix and digest for seven days ; then strain.

In their formula the Dublin and London colleges diminish the
quantity of cardamom seeds, and substitute for it a proportion
of ginger. This makes no alteration on the virtues of the pre-
paration, which is a very warm aromatic, too hot to be given
without dilution. A tea-spoonful or two may be taken in wine,

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CINNAMON TREE.

399

>r any other convenient vehicle, in languors, weakness of the
itomach, flatulencies, and other similar complaints ; and in these
zases it is often employed with advantage. Like the last, it is
in useful adjunct to medicines, especially aperient medicines, or
Jiose called stomachic, and is generally ordered in the quantity
»f two drachms.

4. Spirit of Cinnamon. (Spiritus Cinnamomi.)
Take of cinnamon, bruised, one pound ;

proof spirit of wine, one gallon ;
water, sufficient to prevent cmpyreuma :

Draw off one gallon.
This is used as the last.

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COMMON SWEET BAY.

LAURUS NOBILIS.

Clttss IX. Enneandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Eisent. Gen. Char. As the preceding.
Spec. Char. , Leaves veined lanceolate : Flowers quadrifid*

DESCRIPTION.
1 iie bay tree, the crown of victory among poets, and the env
blem of peace amongst conquerors, never rises with a stem, but
sends forth many radical shoots. The leaves are smooth, often
wared at the margin, of a shining green, and. stand erect upon
short footstalks. The flowers appear in clusters, and the flower-
stalks proceed from the alae of the leaves. The corolla tf cut
into four upright oval segments, of a yellowish white. Itaai
an oval b»;irv.

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COMMON SWEET BAT.

401

HISTORY.

This tree is a native of the south of Europe, but bears the
rioters of thb climate perfectly well. Both leaves and berries
ontain a considerable quantity of essential oil, which renders
hem aromatic stimulating substances*

The berries are generally brought from the Mediterranean,
nd are more pnngent than the leaves. In Spain and Italy a
onsiderable quantity of oil k obtained by expression from the
resh berries. It has a green colour, and strong aromatic taste
nd smell. As it therefore it not a filed oil, but a mixture of
xed and volatile oil, and as its peculiar properties depend en-
irelj on the presence of the latter, it is incorrectly stated to be

fixed oil by the Edinburgh college. It should rather have
een denominated, from the mode of its preparation, an ex.
ressed oil.

MEDICAL USfi.

It is only used externally as a stimulant

2 »

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RHUBARB.

RHEUM PALMATUM.

Class IX. Enneandria. Order III. Trigynia.
Essf.nt. Get*. Char. Calyx none: Corolla six-cleft, abiding: Seed <

triquetrous.
Sfkc. Char. Leave* palmate, acuminate, rough.'

DESCRIPTION. •

The stalk rises six or eight feet, erect, round, jointed, sheath
Radical leaves numerous, large, of a roundish figure, deeply
into lobes and irregularly pointed segments, standing upon lo
smooth, round footstalks. Stalk leaves proceed from the joii
to which they furnish membranous sheaths, and gradually
come smaller as they clothe the upper parts of the stem. Flow
terminate the branches in numerous clusters, forming numer
spikes, which appear in May. The germen becomes a seed w
membranous margins of a red colour.

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RHUBARB/

403

HISTORY.

It is a native of Tartary- in Asia, and may be cultivated in
England.

The first account we ha? e of the rhubarb being raised in Eng-
md is from Parkinson* who says " he received the seeds from
isia in 1629, from beyond the seas, by a worthy gentleman,
)r. Lister, and the rha pontic rhubarb first grew with him be-
ore it was ever seen or known elsewhere in England." This
ras long supposed to be the true rhubarb, until the waved or
adulated rhubarb (Rheum undulatum) was discovered. This
ras raised in the Leyden botanic garden, and the seeds were
Hit by the great Boerhaave to our famous gardener Miller, in
750, by the title of the* true Chinese rhubarb (Rhabarbarum
Ihmue venm), which succeeded very well, and Linnaeus fixed
n it the appellation of the true rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum).
tat in order to ascertain what the Turkey rhubarb was, which
t>mes from Thibet mountains in Tartary, the great Boerhaave
ot from a Tartarian rhubarb merchant the seeds of the plants
hich produced the roots that he annually sold, and were ad-
kitted at St Petersburgh to be the genuine rhubarb. These
«ds were soon propagated, and were discovered by him to
rodnce two distinct species ; namely, the undulated rhubarb
Rheum+habarbarum) of Linnaeus, or, as it has been since called, ,
keum undulatum ; and another, a specimen of which being pre-,
mted to Linnaeus, he declared it to be a new one, and intro.
iced it in his second edition of the Species Plantarum by the
une of palmated rhubarb (Rheum palmatum). Previous to
lis De Gorter had repeatedly sent the seeds to Linnaeus, but
ie young plants which they produced constantly perished ; at
ngth he obtained the fresh root, which succeeded very well at
psal, and afterwards enabled the younger Linnaeus to describe;
ia plant in the year 1767. But two years antecedent to this,
r. Ilope's account of the palmated rhubarb, as it grew in the
itanic garden near Edinburgh, had been read before the Royal,
►ctety in London. The seeds were first introduced into Great
rttain in 1702 by Dr. Mounsey, who first* sent them from
assia; and these seeds were quickly dispersed over the island.
t the same time that Dr. Hope cultivated them at Edinburgh,
ofessor Marty n raised abundance of the plants in the botanic,
rden at Cambridge, from Dr. Mounsey 's seeds, which all pro- ,
2d2

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BHTJBABB*

duced the rheum palmatum; and I hare some of the doctc
original packet still by me. It appears that the seeds sent fr
St Petersburgh to this country almost uniformly and constan
produce the rheum palmatam, and not sometimes rheum mm
latum also, as De Oorter relates the seeds -to hare done wh
Boerhaare obtained from the Tartarian merchant. This, ht
crrer, does not prove that other species, as the undu latum, i
eren the compactum (the thick-leaved rhubarb), do not yield
true rhubarb, as well as the palmatum. We have seen that
undulatum was sent from Tartary with the palmatum for the
mine plant; and Oeorgi relates that a Cossack pointed out
same species to him for the true rhubarb. Both he and Pa
remark, that possibly the root of rheum undulatum may be bei
on the more southern open and dry mountains of Tibet than
the colder wet mountains of Siberia. Professor Pallas relai
AatinBuMaria the rheum palmatum seems to be unknown, i
that, as far as he could collect from description, the species tl
consider there as the true one is the compactum, the seeds
which* Mr. Miller informs us, were sent to him from St. Peti
burgh as the true Tartarian rhubarb.

Since the true Russian rhubarb was introduced by Dr. Moun
in the year 1762, or soon after, and was cultivated by Sir Al
under Dick and Dr. Hope of Edinburgh, with a view to brinj
into use as a medicine, it has been a question whether the r
could attain Ae same qualities in our climate that it has wh
it is a native. That Britain is not too cold for it appears clea
from thesueees* with which it has been cultivated in Scotlar
if it meets with any difficulty here, it must be from the moist
Of our climate, and there can be no doubt but that a dry <
should be chosen for it. The chief obstruction to giving
root here a quatfty equal to foreign rhubarb, appears to be
difficulty of curing it properly ; but this is in a great mea>
got over, and BO doubt will be fully conquered by further t
perience, if encouragement should be given to the more ex tens
cuKfoatfon at home of this most useful plant.

And surery rhubarb merits some encouragement, if It be I
that not lessthan 900,000/. is paid annually for what is impor
into this country ; especially if we consider the difficulty th
may be of procuring this article from Russia, the inferiority
the Chinese rhubarb, and the adulterations that are practised
render the foreign drug fair to the eye. There remains only

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404

oavince our countrymen that British rhubarb If equal Co the
sreign; or, if it be a little inferior, that inferiority ii owing
leroly to a want of skill in curing it, which skill will toon bo
ttained by experience.

The late excellent Dr. Hope, who with Sir Alexander Dick
ma indefatigable in cultivating the rheum palmatam for medical
se, relatef, in the year 1784, that most of the apothecaries ia
idinburgh used no other than what* is raised in Scotland ; that for
rveral years there has been no other employed in the Royal In*
rmavy ; and that when a sound root is well dried and properly
ressed, it is ia no respect inferior to what comes from Russia.

The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures,
ad Commerce has exerted itself for many years in promoting
ie. cultivation of the rheum palmatnm in Great Britain, and
ith much success* '

Sir John Dick had the gold modal of the Society for a memoir
a the culture and drying of it Sir William Fordyoe, so early
i the year 1780, took up three roots, six years old, weighing
hen washed sen pounds six ounces avoirdupois. He stripped
F the bark from the smaller roots, and cut off most of it from,
m larger parts ; and hung them up in festoons on packthread,
tree or four inches from each other, at a moderate distance
om the fire. From these roots he made one pound four ounces
r rhubarb, as fit for the market as any imported from Russia,
urkey, or China : he obtained likewise one pound more, it for
rivate use, or to be powdered. The roots should be cleared
itirely of the rind, for the parts which are covered with it will
» apt to turn mouldy. Large pieces should have a perforation
sde through the middle, that they may dry mose perfectly,
Mb less fuel and in less time.

At the end of six or seven years, when the plant seems to
rive at its most perfect state, one pound of rhubarb may he
ttained from every five pounds of the green roots, besides an
ual or larger proportion of roots fit lor family use, or powder
the shops.

In 1701 the gold medal of the Society was given to this gen~
man for raising above three hundred plants of the true rhubarb
hd seed, and transplanting them at four feet distance.
Nathaniel Jarman, esq. of Brenley House, in Kent, sowed
ty seeds, being part of those which wore sent so the Society

Dr. Mounsey in 1764 : they produced forty-five plants. In

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406 RHUBARB.

1784 he raised upwards of a hundred and twenty plants in
common ground from seeds of the preceding year. He 1
sent to the Society two roots, weighing twenty-eight and thi
pounds : but this year he sent a single root, which weigh
when taken up on the 16th of October, fifty. six pounds : i
few days it lost four or fire pounds, and on the 8th of Nov*
ber, when it was weighed before a committee, it was found
weigh only forty-five pounds. The largest root before produ
to the Society by Sir Alexander Dirk weighed forty-two pour

Mr. Robert Davis the younger, of Mine head, in Somen
shire, merchant, in the spring of the year 1779 sowed some s
of rheum pal ma turn, which he received from Dr. Brockles
and planted out seven hundred and twenty of the plants at
distance of five feet. The soil for the most part was sandy <
light, the rest a deep black loamy garden ground. A gr
number of plants on the first soil died ; but those on the la
continued for the most part vigorous, and produced larger re
than the other, although not superior, if equal in quality.
did not appear that the distance of five feet in any respect
oommoded or injured the most luxuriant plants.

In the summer of 1783 the whole plantation was taken
and the number of roots was near, if not quite, four hundi
The whole produced three hundred pounds of dried rhubarb.
. The gold medal of the Society was adjudged to Mr. John B
surgeon at Williton, in the parish of St. Decuman, in the cou
of Somerset, for raising, in 1788, upwards of four hundred phi
of rheum palmatum, standing six feet asunder each way.

The following year, having by the severity of the winter 1
fifty of the four hundred and thirty plants above mentioned,
filled up the vacancies with young plants, aud planted upwa
of six hundred morcat six feet apart, aud about two hundred
four feet. For this additional plantation lie received anotJ
gold medal.

It appears that some of Mr.- Ball's roots of five years <
weighed, when fresh, upwards of seventy pounds ; and that
used the bark for tinctures- finding it full as good in every i
spectas the best part of the root. His practice is to manure
dress them with rotten dung, coal ashes, lime, mould, old m
wall, &c.

In 1702 Mr.- Thomas Jones, of Fish-streeUhill, Londo
planted four hundred and twenty plants of rheum paltnatoi

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407

at six feet distance, at Foortree-hill, Kn field, Middlesex, and had
the gold medal adjudged to him by the Society.

The same year Mr. Hal ley, of Pontefract, 'in Yorkshire,' had
the silTer medal for producing samples of rhubarb better cured
than any that had been produced before. It seems that his father
had been in the habit of raising large quantities of the roots,
which in war time he disposed of very freely, but in time of
peace the druggists procured it from abroad at a lower rate.

Jn 1793 the gold medal was adjudged to Mr. William Hay-
ward, of Banbury, in Oxfordshire, for raising full eight hundred
plaots of the true rhubarb ; and a third gold medal to Mr. Ball,
for possessing one hundred and fifty -eight pounds of it, of his
own growth and curing, equal in quality to Turkey or Russia
rhubarb ; and communicating his culture of it.
. The year following Mr. Ball had a fourth gold medal adjudged
to him for possessing ninety-seven pounds of the true rhubarb
of his own growth, and for communicating the culture and me-
thod of cure.

In 1795 Mr. Robert Davis before mentioned, of Minehead,
In Somersetshire, had the gold medal for raising nine hundred
and thirteen rhubarb plants, and giving some account of their
culture* Also the silver medal to Nicholas Ashton, of Woolton
Hall, near Liverpool, esq. for sending samples of rhubarb very
well cured. This rhubarb was planted in 1778 or 1779, and
was taken up and cured in October 1795.

In 1797 the gold medal was adjudged to the Rev. James Stil-
lingfleet, of Hotham, in Yorkshire, for his culture and cure of
rhubarb, of which he gives an ample detail. Also to Mr. Thomas
Jones above mentioned, for raising nine hundred and thirty-five
plants, and giving a full account of his method of culture.

The following year the same Mr. Jones had a reward of thirty
guineas from the Society for having raised and planted three
thousand and forty plants of the true rhubarb, making up the
whole number raised by him nearly five thousand since the year
1793. He here adds many excellent hints respecting its culture.

Again this meritorious gentleman applied for the gold medal,
xalue thirty guineas, in the following address :

u c To the President.

" The certificate which accompanies this communication will
inform the Society that I have planted in the year 1799 four. thon*

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sand and fifty-three plants of the rheum palmatmn, or true rh
barb: I once more, therefore, present myself as a dabnai
Each time I have made my appearance in this character I ha
pledged myself to future and more considerable exertions; f
every distinction with which you hare honoured me hat be
viewed in no other light than that of a powerful incentive to pi
severance; and I need not add, how much gratification it w
afford me if the Society J by their decision on the present occ
sion, continue to me their good opinion.

u The period I have devoted to the cultivation of this vain
ble drug has now become of a sufficient length to prove ex pel
mentally the truth or falsehood of my theories. Happy am I
reflecting, and happier still in communicating to the Society, th
since Hast had the pleasure of addressing them I have addition
reason for satisfaction. In my former papers (see Transa
t Ions of the Society, vol. xi. xv. and xvi.) having been, perhap
more than sufficiently minute in describing my system of cultiv
tion, I shall now only notice the nature of the soil and as pec
the former of which is a rich sandy loam, and the aspect inclinir
to the east and south ; and as the public arc in complete posse
sion of the opinions upon which it is founded, there is no occ
sion to repeat every particular point in the present instance :
5 kail therefore content myself with merely mentioning some, at
enlarging upon others, as necessity may require.

" Conceiving it to be goo d policy for a man to avail himself <
every advantage that is presented, I have recommended sprir
as well as autumnal sowings ; and the plants of each, when a
rived at a proper size, to be placed in the nursery-bed, at i
opposite season. ,1 persevere in this practice, lest the summei
in proving too dry, should be equally detrimental as too wet
winter : but as draining the seed-beds may be so easily effected
and the safety of the plants necessarily ensured ; so now, withoi
on any account neglecting the former, I principally depend o
the latter sowing for a succession : besides, it is attended wit
the least trouble and expense ; and if throughout the opcratto
is well attended to, success is nearly reduced to a certainty.

"Again, I have somewhere observed that a proper mode of col
tivau'on would greatly facilitate the cure of this root ; in othe
words, good management will ensure its welfare till its arrival t
a proper age ; and that this has ever appeared to me of the mos
absolute necessity, I have never failed to represent. By nothing

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409

else can it acquire that degree of woodiness, in which I suspect
the principal secret of its care consists.. Age, too, is necessary
to gi?e the plant its proper growth ; otherwise, when it under-
goes the operation, its. pieces will be diminutive, insignificant,
and unprofitable. Above all, it is entirely indebted to age for
its medical virtues ; and I firmly before that to this, more than
to soil or situation, it is owing that the Turkey has been hi.
tberto considered superior to the English rhubarb.

" In this place permit me to introduce an opinion that I hare
for some time entertained, vis. thai those parts of the coot are
of the finest quality that are the farthest remo? ed from the seed*
This difference is easily discoverable from its -earliest stages ; and
so assured am I of the fact, that, bat for want of a supply of
offsets, and one or two other considerations, 1 should be almost
tempted to abandon my present, in favour of this mode of culti-
vation. But though, in this respect, the rhubarb is evidently
superior, yet it should be recollected that the other is less pre-
carious, and its growth and produce much more considerable.

" Although, according to every public testimony, of which
mention will presently be made, I have reason to believe my pro.
greas has been more considerable than that of my contemporaries,
if there are any, yet I have no conception that we have arrived
at the ne plus ultra. Let us rather hope, that every succeeding
year will be productive of a degree of improvement proportionate,
to the advantages of increased experience. As we are so much
indebted, therefore, to the age of our plants, let me caution all
who have, or may engage in this undertaking, never to yield to
impatience; for, with a few persons, the prejudices against the
English rhubarb are many, and deeply rooted ; and to this source
most of them may be traced. Nor is this very wonderful ; for
to entertain high expectations of rhubarb prematurely taken up,
is no -less extravagant, than to suppose the capacity of a child
equal to that of an adult; yet hitherto our market has been a
stranger to any other than such a commodity.

" That I never expected to introduce it into general practice
without opposition is evident from my last papers in 1798 ; for
I there remarked, that very probably before this could be effected
certain difficulties must be overcome, the principal of which I
apprehended to be an almost universal prepossession in favour of
foreign commodities. Moderation on the part of the cultivator
in the regulation of his prices, and an unwearied attention to>

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RHUBARB.

its quality, are the only meant likely to produce a counteraction
To great, attention to these points I attribute all my succes
Mere recommendation ought ever, in such a business as this, t
be placed out of the question. If the article will not bear ti
tests of examination and trial, it should not be- indebted to an
thing else.

• " 'Whenever I have submitted any specimens to public en
mination at an hospital or elsewhere, my constant language hi
been, ' I hare no wish but that they may rise or fall accordin
to their own intrinsic merit or demerit ; and, if worthy of appn
nation, by this means induce their general adoption. That th
being, no doubt, the ultimate object of the Society of Arts, wh
hare thought proper to houour me with several distinctions,
feel myself impelled. to forward it to the utmost, and not remai
contented with its mere cultivation.' I hare proceeded to stai
the great expense this country incurs by so large an import;
tion, and on this account urged its general adoption, in order I
lessen the expense on the' score of duty. That although 1 a
influenced by. such motives, and many others, yet my own ir
dividual interest I have at the same time fairly acknowledged I
be among the number ; and I have concluded with expressing
hope, that while pleading the general, as well as my own pai
ticular cause, perhaps the benefit of such institutions may be tf
necessary consequence of introducing a valuable and eflicaciou
medicine at a comparatively trifling expense. I have never yi
made this appeal in vain ; and the Society will, 1 dare say, n
ceive with much satisfaction the intelligence that rhubarb <
English growth is now used at Guy's (I mention the hospital
in the order of its introduction), St. Thomas's, and St. Barthc
lomew's ; and is tinder trial at several others. Still further t
inform myself of the public opinion, 1 have lately requested a
interview with a numerous and most respectable committee a
Apothecaries9 Hall : it is impossible, without a breach of pro
priety, to repeat the compliments its members were pleased t
pay me : whether I deserve them or not, it won Id he equal!;
improper in me to determine ; but of this the Society may b
assured, I never will rest till I do. In a word, my purpose wa
.folly answered. The article which I exhibited met with themes
unqualified approbation, and full permission was given to publisl
this circumstance. I beg leave* before I conclude, to apologia
for the egotism which prevails throughout this communication

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It is scarcely possible to avoid it* when, in cases like the pre-
sent, a man is under the necessity of speaking of himself.

"• It is a subject I have much at heart, and it would give me
much real concern to keep back a single circumstance likely to
be useful to future cultivators. Its production and adoption,
with the attendant difficulties, have been, to the best of my abi-
lities, amply considered ; the former in the communications be-
fore mentioned, the latter in this paper. If the Society are of
opinion that the steps I am pursuing to effect this last and de-
sirable purpose deserve success, it will be highly flattering. Under
their auspices I commenced my' plantation eight years ago,, and
I hope and trust my proceedings since have been such that the
purpose to which it has been appropriated will occasion no regret.
"I am, sir, your very humble servant, .

" Thomas Jones."

Specimens of English rhubarb underwent a severe trial at Bath
by three eminent physicians there, Drs. Falconer, Parry, and
Fothergill.

Dr. Falconer reports, that the two specimens of English rhu-
barb answer in external marks to the characters of the drug
when good; that they are rather inferior in delicacy of taste to
Turkey rhubarb, but superior in some respects to the East In.
dian ; that perhaps they might have resembled the Turkey still
more clearly had they been dug up as long a time, and a careful
selection of the best pieces had been made. The red colour is
said to be improved by keeping ; and Linnaeus advises it to be
kept ten years before it is used. Vogel relates, that an apo-
thecary is sent with the Russian caravan that goes to the borders
of China to purchase rhubarb, to whom all the rhubarb is de-
livered, and he is strictly ordered to select carefully the best
pieces only, and to burn all the decayed and bad. Upon the
return of the caravan to Moscow or Petersburgh, it is again put
into the hands of persons skilled in pharmacy, who have the
care of its being properly dressed, and of none but the true sort
being admitted ; so that after all these cautions none but the
choicest and fairest pieces can be exported. If, then, such a
selection were made here, and it were kept a due time, the Bri-
tish rhubarb might probably equal any of the foreign ; especially
if other circumstances were attended to, which will be men-
tioned when we come to the culture and curing of it.

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This account nay serve to show both the ardour of tins re
spectacle Society in encouraging the growth of this nseful article
and the persevering industry of some gentlemen in •vercominj
all the difficulties attendant on introducing a new plant into col
t\ ration, finding out the means of curiog it as an article for ex.
tensive sale, and overcoming the prejudices of snch as cauno
persnade themselves that a drug of British growth can bear i
competition with what is sent hs from foreign countries.

To conclude : The duke of Athol has raised rhubarb in Scot
land which was thought by eminent druggists, and gentlemen ol
the medical profession in London, to be nearly if not quite equal
to the Russian, in smell, taste, and effect. By paying a littU
more attention to the curing, they conceiTed that its beauty
might be increased ; upon which, the year after, his grace sen!
op specimens of still superior quality.

It haying brayed the climate of St. Petersburgh, and succeeded
well in Scotland, is a sufficient proof of its hardiness. Or. Ro-
bertson informs us, that it grows luxuriantly in Perthshire (latu
tude 66°) ; that gardeners and others raise it there in great per-
fection ; and that there is in Scotland a constant demand for it as
a medicine.

The general characters of good rhubarb are, its haying a
whitish or clear yellow colour, being dry, solid, and compact,
moderately hcayy; brittle; when recently broken appearing
marked with yellow or reddish yeins, mixed with white ; being
easily pulverizable ; forming a powder of a fine bright yellow,
haying the peculiar, nauseous, aromatic smell of rhubarb, and
a subacrtd, bitterish, somewhat astringent taste, and when chewed
feeling gritty under the teeth, speedily colouring the saliva, and
not appearing very mucilaginous. The size and form of the
pieces are of little consequence ; only we must break the large
ones, to see that they are not decayed or rotten within ; and
we must also observe that they are not musty or worm-eaten.
This is the more necessary, as damaged pieces are frequently so
artfully dressed up, and coloured with powdered rhubarb, as to
impose on the buyer.

The principal constituent of rhubarb is extractive matter, so-
luble both in alcohol and in water. By gentle decoction it loses
above one-half its weight Rhubarb also contains some volatile
odorous matter, on which its peculiar nauseous smell, and its
activity as a purge, depend; for when dissipated, either by age

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or any preparation to winch, the rhubarb has been subjected, the
powers of the medicine are almost destroyed; It also contains
about one«sixth of its weight of oxalate of lime, and some tan-
nin, which resides entirely in the dark-coloured reins ; for, on
wetting the surface with a weak chalybeate soidtion, these alone
are blackened, while the white rains do not change their colour*
Neumann got from 480 grains 180 of alcoholic, and afterwards
170 watery extract ; and inversely, 350 watery, and only 5 of
alcoholic extract.

MEDICAL USE.

Rhubarb is a mild cathartic, which operates without violence
or irritation, and may be given with safety even to pregnant
women and to children. In some people, however, it occasions
severe griping. Besides its purgative quality it is celebrated as
an astringent, by which it increases the tone of the stomach and
intestines, and proves useful in diarrhoea and disorders proceed*
irig from laxity.

Rhubarb is exhibited,

1. In substance, in the form of powder. It operates more
powerfully as a purgative in this form than in any other. The
dose for an adult is about a scrapie or upwards. On account
of its great bulk it is sometimes unpleasant to take a sufficient
dose; its laxative effects are therefore often increased by the ad.
drtioti of neutral salts, or other more active purgatives. In smaller
doses it often proves an excellent stomachic.

2. In infusion. Rhubarb yields more of its purgative pro.
perty to water than to alcohol. The infusion tsr however, con.
siderably weaker than the powder, and requires double the dose
to produce the same effect. It is well adapted for children, but
must be always fresh prepared.

3. In tincture. On account of the stimulating nature of the
menstruum, this preparation frequently cannot be exhibited in
doses large enough to operate as a purgative. Its principal use
is as a tonic and stomachic.

The virtues of rhubarb are destroyed by roasting, boiling, and
in forming the extract.

PREPARATIONS.
Infusion of Rhubarb. (Infusum Rhei Palmaii. £.)

Take of rhubarb, bruised) half an ounce J
■ boiling water, eight ounces ;
spirit of cinnamon, one ounce :

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Macerate the rhubarb in a close vessel with the water for tweh
hours ; then add the spirit, and strain the liquor.

This appears to be one of the best preparations of rhubarl
when designed as a purgative ; water extracting its virtue moi
effectually than either vinous or spiritoos menstrua* The dot
is from half a drachm to two drachms.

Rhubarb Wjne. (Vinum Rhei Palmati. £.)

Take of rhubarb, sliced, two ounces ;

canella alba, bruised, one drachm ;

■ ■ diluted alcohol, two ounces ;

Spanish white wine, fifteen ounces :

Macerate for seven days, and strain through paper.

Wine of Rhubarb. (Vinum Rhabarbari. L.)

Take of sliced rhubarb, two ounces and a half ;

lesser cardamom seeds, bruised and husked, half a

ounce:

saffron, two drachms ;
Spanish white wine, two pints ;
proof spirit, half a pint :

Digest for ten days, and strain.

This is a warm, cordial, laxative medicine. It is used chicfl;
in weakness of the stomach and bowels, and some kinds o
loosenesses, for evacuating the offending matter, and strengthen
ing the tone of the viscera. It may be given in doses of fron
half a spoonful to three or four spoonfuls or more, according
to' the circumstances of the disorder, and the strength of th<
patient

Tincture op Rhubarb. (Tinctura Rhei Palmati. E.)

Take of rhubarb, sliced, three ounces ;

lesser cardamom seeds, bruised, half an ounce ;

diluted alcohol, two pounds and a half:

Digest for seven days, and strain through paper.

Tincture of Rhubarb. (Tinctura Rhabarbari. L. D.)

Take of rhubarb, cut into pieces, two ounces ;

lesser cardamom seeds, bruised, half an oiiaec ;

(liquorice root, bruised, half an ounce, D.)j

— saffron, two drachms }

proof spirit of wine, two pints :

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Digest for seven day s, and strain. Dose half an ounce as a
purge, or two drachms as a stomachic.

Compound Tincture of Rhubarb. (Tinctnra Rhabarbari
Composita. L.)

Take of rhubarb, sliced, two ounces ;

liquorice root, bruised, half an ounce ;

*- ipuger, powdered,

saffron, each two drachms ;

distilled water, one pint ;

proof spirit of wine, twelve ounces, by measure :

Digest for fourteen days, and strain. Dose half an ounce, as an
aperient.

Tincture of Riiubarb with Aloes, commonly called Sa-
cred Elixir. (Tinctura Rhei et Aloes, olim Elixir Sa-
crum. E.)

Take of rhubarb, sliced, ten drachms ;

socotrine aloes, in powder, six drachms ;

lesser cardamom seeds, bruised, half an ounce ;

diluted alcohol, two pounds and a half:

Digest for seven, days, and strain through paper. Doso half an
ounce, as an aperient

Tincture of Rhubarb with Gentian, formerly Bitter
Tincture of Rhubarb. (Tinctura Rhei et Gent Fan ae, olim
Tinctura Rhei Amara. E.)

Take of rhubarb, sliced, two ounces ;

gentian root, sliced, half an ounce ;

— — diluted alcohol, two pounds and a half : ,

Digest for seven days, and strain through paper. Half an ounce
as a purge, or two drachms as a stomachic.

All the foregoing tinctures of rhubarb are designed as sto-
machics and corroborants, as well as purgatives : spiritous li-
quors excellently extract those parts of the rhubarb in which
the two first qualitfes reside, and the additional ingredients con-
siderably promote their efficacy. In weakness of the stomach,
indigestion, laxity of the intestines, diarrhoeas, colic, and other
similar complaints, these medicines are frequently of great ser-
vice.

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RHUBARB.

Compound Pills o* Roubarb. (Pilulas Rhei Composite. 1

Take of rhubarb, in powder, one ounce ;

" ■ ■ soeotrine aloes, six drachms ;

— — — myrrh, half an ounce ;

volatile oil of peppermint, half a drachm :

Make them into a mass, with a sufficient quantity of syrup
orange-peel.

This pill is intended for moderately warming and strength
ing the stomach, and gently. opening the belly. A scruple
the mass may be taken night and morning.

PRESCRIPTIONS,
ft. 1. Take of rhubarb, in powder,

* Colombo, in powder, equal parts, grains 3

To be given every three hours. Most excellent in diarrhoeas*
ft. % Take of rhubarb, in powder, grains 3,

opiate confection - grains 0 :

To be given tiery four hours in the same disease,
ft. 3. Take of rhubarb, in powder - -

componnd powder of scammony,

grains 15,
grains 4

To be given at bed-time for costive habits.

ft. 4. Take of sliced rhubarb - . - drachms 2,

Colombo.

gentian,

rind of orange, equal parts, drachm £,

raspings of quassia - - drachm £,

coriander, bruised - - drachms 2,

boiling water - - *- - a pint:

Make an infusion, and take half a wine glass occasionally wl
costive. Excellent in gouty habits.

ft. 5. Take of compound tincture of rhubarb, drachms %

' tincture of catechu * • - drachm 1,

■ tincture of opium - - - - drops 10:

Make into a draught, to be taken three times a day in looseness)

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SENNA, oe ^EGYPTIAN CASSIA.

CkutX. Decandria* Order I. Monogynia.
Bassarr. Gnr. Ca*a. Grip* five-leated: Prfafr Are: ^itfftert abore tte-

ffla, theJoweroaestarae-teaked: Fruit a legavie.
Irac Caxa. £**«* fabowtfe : JVtfofct with glands.

DESCRIPTION.

Ihb stalk rises from two to four tot, resembling a sEirab, and
«ndiog out hollow woody items. Leares in alternate order, am}
x>mpoand, composed of several pair of oval, pointed, and nerved
riiuuB, of a yellowish green colour. Flowers yellow, forming
i spike, consisting of fire petals. The pod is curved and abort

HISTORY.

It grows principally in Upper JEgypt, from whence the leares
re brought, dried, and picked from the stalks, to Alexandria
a iEgypt, and thence imported into Europe. They are of an

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■:i

418

SENNA, OR ^EGYPTIAN CASSIA.

oblong figure, sharp-pointed at thejends, about a quarter of
inch broad, and not a fall inch in length, of a lively ydlov
green colour, a faint, not very disagreeable smell, and a 8
acrid, bitterish, nauseous taste. Some inferior sorts are brpu
from other places : these may be easily distinguished by tl
being either narrower, longer, and sharper pointed, from Moc
or larger, broader, and round pointed, with small promin
reins, from Italy ; or large and obtuse, of a fresh green cole
without any yellow cast, from Tripoli.

It has been customary to reject the pedicles of the leave
senna, as causing gripes and pains in the bowels ; but this i
mere prejudice, for both leaves and pedicles act in the very si
way. Neumann from 480 parts of senna got 143 alcoholic
tract, and afterwards 140 watery; and inversely, 245 wate
and only 28 alcoholic ; «6 that it seems to consist chiefly of i
cilagc and extractive matter.

MEDICAL USE.

Senna is a very useful cathartic, operating mildly, and
effectually ; and, if judiciously dosed and managed, rarely oc
sioning the ill consequences which too frequently follow the <
hibition of the stronger purges. The only in conveniences cc
plained of in this drug are, its being apt to gripe, and its n
seous flavour.

These are best obviated by adding to the senna some aronw
substance, as ginger, cinnamon, &c, aud by facilitating its o]
ration by drinking plentifully of any mild diluent.

Senna may be given in substance to the extent of afoul
drachm ; but it is rather too bulky, and it is therefore better
divide it into two doses, and to take one half at night, and i
other in the morning. It is more conveniently given in the fo
of infusion, which is generally made by pouring about six oura
of boiling water upon from two to six drachms of senna lea
in a tea-pot, and letting it stand for a few minutes, when it on
be sweetened, and a little milk added to it, and taken as tea,
even mixed with tea to deceive children, ' who will take it so ;
this tea may4>e boiled with sliced apples with sugar with it, wp
it will be readily taken. Senna ought never to be ordered
decoction, Gren says, because it becomes perfectly inert, fo
the total dissipation of the nauseous and volatile principle
which its purgative Effects' depend. The tincture, on accoa

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SENNA, Oft JBGYPTIAH QA89IA, 419

if the menstruum, cannot be given in doses large enough to
purge.

PREPARATIONS.

Simple Infusion of Senna. (Infusum Sennas Simplex, JL) ,

Take of senna, an ounce and a half;
" ginger, powdered, one drachm ;

boiling distilled water, one pint :

Macerate them for an hour in a covered vessel, and strain the
iqnor when cold.

Infusion of Senna. (Infusum Sennae. D.)

Take of senna, three drachms ;
- '" . ' lesser cardamom seeds, husked and bruised^ half a
drachm;

• * boiling water, as much as will yield a filtered infusion

of six ounces :
Digest for an hour, and filter, when cold.

This is a well contrived purgative infusion, the aromatic cor-
ectiog the drastic effects of the senna. But the quantity ordered
o be prepared at one time by the London college is much too
arge, for an ounce or two is a sufficient dose. It is of advan.
age that it should' be used fresh prepared, as it is apt to spoil
cry quickly.

Tarta&ised Infusion of Senna. (Infusum Sennas Tar-
tarisatum. L.)

Take of senna, one ounce and a half;
■ coriander seeds, bruised, half an ounce;

crystals of tartar, two dralhms ;

— ■ distilled water, one pint :

Ktaolve the crystals of tartar by boiling in the water; then pour
lie liquor, as yet boiling, on the senna and seeds. Macerate
or an hour in a covered vessel, and strain when cold.

The addition of the supertartrate of potash renders the ta$te
f the senna less unpleasant, and also promotes its action. The
nantHy to take as a purge is from half an ounce to an ounce
arly in the morning.

nfusion of Senna with Tamaeinds. (Infusum Senne cum

Tamarindis. D.)
idd to the infusion of senna, before it be strained, an ounce
f tamarinds ; then strain*

3b 2

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SUVA* •* JKTPTIAIT cAmi,

TUi farms a mild and useful puige, excellently suited I
delicate stomachs and inflammatory diseases. The taste off
senna is well coyered by the aromatic sugar, and by the acid
of the tamarinds* An ounce hi a conrcnient purge*

Compound Tincture of Senna, commonly called Elm
of Health. Tinctora Sennas Composite, (?ulg& Elixir I
iutia. E.)

Take of senna leares, two ounces;

— — - jalap root, bruised, one ounce;

— — coriander seeds, bruised, half an ounce ;
. diluted alcohol, three pounds and a half:

Digest for ttxsn days, and to the liquor, filtered through pap
add

Double refined sugar, four ounces.

Compound Powder or Senna* (Pubis Sennas Composites. J

Take of eenna,

■ »■ crystals of tartar, of each two ounces;

« " ■■ ■■ mnimnony, half an ounce;

» ■ ■■ '" ginger, two drachms:
Triturate the tcanunouy by itself, reduce the sett together*
a powder, and then mix them all.

This powder is giren as a cathartic, in the dose of two sc
pies, or a drachm. The scammony Is used as a stimulus to
senna; the quantity of the latter necessary for a dose, when i
assisted by some more powerful material, being too bulky te
conveniently taken in this form. The ginger is added to mi
it sit easier on the stomach, and gripe less.

Extract or Senna. (Extractum Sennas. L.)

Take fcf senna, one pound;

"• distilled water, oncgaftlen*

Boil the senna in the ^stilled water, adding, after its decoct*
a little rectified spirit of wine. Erapomte the strained liquor
a proper thickness. Th*4ose is ten grains to hesf adrackss.

Electuary or Senna, commonly called Lenitite El
yuary. (Etudurium Gasste fennss, olhn Electuaries* 1
nithrum. E.)

TMkeof senna, eight ounces;

' coriander seeds, four ounca ;

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sxkka, ob mtmruM camm* 4M

Take of liquorice root, bruised, three earns**;

if*

■ ■ pulp of prunes, etch one pound ;
~— pulp of tamarind*, half a pound;

■ double refined sugar, two pounds and a half.

Elsctuaey or Skkna. (Etectuarium Sennss. I*)
Take of senna, eight ounces ;

■ coriander seeds, four ounces;
• liquorice, three ounces;

■ ■ figs, one pound;

■ pulp of tamarinds,

■ pulp of cassia,

pulp of prunes, each half a pound;

— — double refined sugar, two pounds a half:
Powder the senna with the coriander seeds, and sift out tea
ounces of the mixed powder; boil the remainder with the figs
and liquorice, in four pounds of water to one half; express and
•train the liquor, which is then to be evaporated to the weight
of about a pound and a half; dissolve the sugar in it; add this
sjrap by degrees to the pulps ; and, lastly, mix in the powder.

Dub.

Take of senna leaves, in very fine powder, four ounces ;
■ pulp of French prunes, one pound;

1 pulp of tamarinds, two ounces ;

■ ■ molasses, a pint and a half ;

— — essential oil of caraway, two drachms:
Boil the pulps in the syrup to the thickness of honey; then add
the powder, and when the mixture cools, the oil ; lastly, mix
the whole intimately.

This electuary is a very convenient laxative, and has long

been in common use among practitioners. Taken to the site of

a nutmeg, or more, as occasion may require, it is an exoelleat

laxative for loosening the belly in costive habits. The formula

of the Dublin college is much more simple and elegant than the

others.

PRESCRIPTIONS.

ft. 1. Take of the electuary of senna • - • ounce 1,
■ jalap, in powder,
1 ginger, in powder, equal quantities, drachm 1,

— — — syrup of roses, as much as is sufficient:

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428

SENNA, OE EGYPTIAN C A 881 A.

Make into an electuary, take the size of a ontmeg every nig
to keep the body open, or repeat that quantity every two hoc
to obtain a relief.

]£. 2. Take of the electuary of senna . - ounce 1,

-r Yitriolated kali, in powder - drachm 1 :

The dose, is the size of a nutmeg at bed-time, as often as til
body is bound.

]£• 3. Take of the electuary of senna,
■ jalap, in powder,

crystals of tartar, equal parts, drachms 2,

— - syrup of buckthorn, as much as is sulfides
Make into au electuary, of which take two drachms in tl
morning as a purge. To be given in costive habits, and in cas
of dropsy.

fy. 4. Take of the electuary of senna - • ounce 1£,

washed flowers of sulphur - drachms 4,

— — - Yitriolated kali, in powder - drachm 1,

syrup of roses, as much as is sufficient :

Make into an electuary, of which take the size of a nutm<
going to bed, as may be required. This is an excellent remed
in persons who have the piles, or are subject to their return.

fy. 5. Take of senna leaves - - drachms 2,

-i tamarind fruit - drachms 3,

! rhubarb, broken drachm 1£,
■ ■ ■■ water - - - - ounces 7:
Boil for a quarter of an hour. Strain, and add half an ounc
of syrup of rosea. Give two table-spoonfuls early in the morn
tag, and repeat a table-spoonful every half^hour until the bowel
are relieved. This is a mild and agreeable purge. .
$. 0. Take of the simple infusion of senna, ounces 3,
■>« ■ tartarised antimony . • . grain 1:
Make into a draught, to be taken directly. This forms a eei
tain, brisk, and agreeable purge.

I£. 7. Take of the simple infusion of senna, ounces 3,
— — vitriolated natron ... drachms 4,

- spirit of pimento ... drachms 2?
Make into a draught, to be taken in the morning early. A rcr
excellent purge tot costive habits and inflammatory

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PURGING CASSIA.

CASSIA FISTULA.

Clots X. Decandria. Order I. Monogyniu.
Essest. Gen. Char. The same as the preceding.
Spec. Char. Leaves ovate-accuminate.

.DESCRIPTION.

This tree often rises forty feet in height. .The leaves are
pinnated, composed of four to six pairs of pinnae, which are
ovate, pointed, undulated, standing upon short footstalks.. Calyx,
composed of fire leaves. The corolla is composed of five undu-
lated petals, and of a yellow colour. The three lower stamina
ire tery long, and eurl inwards. The others have no filaments,
rod are rostrate, that is, open like the beak of a bird. The fruit
is cylindrical and pendulous, from one to two feet in length, at
first soft and green, afterwards brown, and lastly Mack, divided
into numerous cells, containing each a hard, round, compressed
seed, surrounded with a black pulpy matter.

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4f4 PUROIHG CASSIA.

HISTORY.

This tree is indigenous in, India sad -Egypt, and if cultivate
in Jamaica. It rises to about thirty feet high, and has Ion
flower-spikes, with yellow papilionaceous blossoms.

Its fruit is a cylindrical pod, scarcely ail inch in diameter,
foot or more in length : the outside is a hard, brown bark, tb
Inside is divided by thin transverse woody plates, co?ered wit
a soft black pulp, of a sweetish taste, with Some degree of acri
mony. There are two sort* of this drug in the shops ; on
brought from the East Indies, the other from the West (Cassl
Javanka?). The canes of pods of the latter are generally largi
rough, thick-rinded, and the pulp nauseous ; those of the form*
are less, smoother, the pulp blacker, and of a sweeter taste : th
sort is preferred to the other* Such pods should be chosen i
are weighty, new, And do not make a rattling noise, from tl
seeds being loose witkttt them, when shaken. The pulp shoal
be of a bright shining black colour, and hare a sweet tast
neither harsh, which happens from the fruit being gathered b
fore it has grown fully ripe ; nor sourish, which it is apt to to
come upon keeping ; nor at all mouldy, which is frequently tl
case from its being kept in damp cellars, or moistened in ord
to increase its weight. Greatest part of the pulp dissolves boi
in water and in alcohol, and may be extracted from the pod I
either. The shops boil the bruised pod in water, and af terwan
evaporate the solution to a due consistence.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

The pulp of cassia, from its saccharine and extractive const
tnents, is a gentle laxative medicine, and is frequently given, i
a dose of some drachms, in costive habits. Some direct a do
cf two ounces, or more, as a cathartic, in inflammatory case
where the more acrid purgatives are improper ; but in these forj
quantities it generally excites nausea, produces flatulence, ai
sometimes gripings of the bowels, especially if the cassia be n<
of a very good kind : these effects may be prevented by the m
dition of aromatics, and by exhibiting it in a liquid form.

PREPARATIONS.

Electuary or Cassia. (Electnarium Cassis Fistula. £.)

Take of pulp of cassia fistalaris, four parts ;
_ pulp of tamarinds,

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PURGING CAS8IA. 425

Take of manna, each one part;

■ syrup of pale roses, four parts :

Having beat the manna in a mortar, dissolve it frith a gentle
beat in the syrep; then add the pulps, and evaporate with a re-
gularly conthwed heat to a proper consistence.

Electuab.1t o? Cassia. (ETeetuarium Casate. L. D.) .

Take of the fresh extracted palp of cassia, half a pound ;

■ manna, two ounces ;

— — pulp of tamarinds, one ounce;

■ (syrup of roses, half a pound, L.)
■ (syrup of orange-peel, half a pound, D.)

Boil the manna, and dissolve it over a slow fire in the syrup ;
then add the pulps; and, with a continued heat, evaporate the
phole to the proper thickness of an electuary.

These compositions are very convenient officinab, to serve as
i bask for purgative electuaries, and other similar purposes,
rhe tamarinds give them a pleasant acidity, and do not, at might
be expected, dispose them to ferment After standing for four
months, the composition has been found no sourer than when
first made. This electuary is usefully taken by itself, to the
quantity of two or three drachms occasionally, for gently loosen-
ing the belly in costive habits.

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•

OFFICINAL GUAIACUM.

GUAIACUM OFFICINALE.

Class X. Decandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Essent. GE?f. Char. Calyx five-cleft, unequal: Petals five, inserted
the calyx : Capsule angular, three- or flve-celled. V

Spec. Char. Leaves in two sets from one peduncle : Pinna* obtuse.

DESCRIPTION.
1 he guaiacum tree grows to forty feet in height, and in c
eumfcrence is four or live, sending forth several branches. T
bark of the trunk is a dark gray, of the branches an unifo
ash colour. The leaves are pinnated, consisting of four to i
pairs of oval pinnae, with very short footstalks. The flowi
grow in clusters, or umbels, upon long peduncles, which spri
from the divisions of the smaller branches.

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OFFICINAL GUAIACUM.

427

HISTORY.

This tree it a native of the West Indies, an£ grows to a large
lize. The wood is heavier than water, very hard, resinous, and
of a greenish black colour. Its taste is bitterish, and when kin*
lied it gi? es out a pleasant smell. It is brought either in pieces,
which are sometimes covered with a pale yellow albnrnum, or
ilready 'rasped, when by division its colour appears greenish
brown, or yellow. The bark is thin, of an ash gray, or blackish
colour, and apparently composed of several laminpe. It is less
resinous than the wood. Neumann got from 7680 parts of the
wood 1630 alcoholic, and 280 watery extract; and inversely,
740 watery, and 960 alcoholic. From 3840 of the bark he got
560 alcoholic, and 320 watery , and inversely, 620 watery, and
240 alcoholic* The resin exudes spontaneously in tears, but is
principally obtained by sawing the wood into billets about three
feet long, whioh are then bored with an auger longitudinally.
One end of these is kid upon a fire, so that a calabash may re-
ceive the melted resin, which runs through the hole as the wood
burns. It may be also obtained by boiling the chips or sawings
of the wood in water and muriate of soda. The resin swims at
the top, and may be skimmed off.

Gnaiacum has a brownish yellow colour externally ; when held
against the light is transparent, breaks with an uniform smooth
ihtning fracture, of a blueish green colour, is pulverizable, and
the powder has a white colour, gradually becoming blueish green,
is fusible in a moderate heat, but not softened by the heat of the
fingers, without proper smell or taste, but when thrown on hot
coals diffusiog an agreeable odour, and when swallowed in a state
of minute division, causing an insufferable burning and prickling
in the throat Its specific gravity is 1*23. Neumann got from
480 parts, 400 alcoholic, and only 10 watery extract; and in-
versely, 80 watery, and 280 alcoholic. Mr. Brande has more
lately investigated this substance with much care. Digested with
water, about one-tenth of it is dissolved, the water acquiring a
sweetish taste and greenish brown colour. The liquid, when
evaporated, leaves a brown substance, soluble in hot water and
alcohol, but scarcely in sulphuric ether, and precipitating the
muriates of alumina and tin. Alcohol readily forms with guatacum
a deep brown-coloured solution, rendered milky by water, and
precipitated pale green by the muriatic and sulphuric adds, brown-

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498 . ,„. OFFICINAL GUAIACUM.

by the nitric, and pale bine by the oxymnriatic, bnt not by t
acetic acid or alkalies. The solution in. ether exhibits nearly t
same properties. Gnaiacum is soluble in about Id parts of sol
Hon of potass, and in 38 of ammonia ; and the solutions i
precipitated by the nitric, muriatic, and diluted sulphuric adi
Sulphuric acid dissolves it, and nitric acid converts it into oxa
acid. On being burnt, it leaves a large proportion of Charcot
Dr. Wollaston has discovered a curious property of gnaiacum. 1
exposure to air and light, it acquires a green colour. This eft
is produced in the greatest degree by the most refrangible nrj
In the least refrangible rays it is disoxidixed, and the yeUc
colour is restored. The same effect is produced by hot met
According to this analysis, it differs from the resins in the chanf
of colour produced on it by air and light, and the action of t
acids, in not forming tannin when treated with nitric add, m
in the large proportion of charcoal it affords when burnt. It
sometimes adulterated with colophony or common resin ; butt
f rand is easily detected, by the smell of turpentine which it em
when thrown on lire coals.

MEDICAL USE.

Taken internally gnaiacum commonly excites a sense of wain
in the stomach, a dryness of the mouth, with thirst It increu
the heat of the body, and quickens the circulation. If the p
tient be kept warm, it produces diaphoresis ; if exposed free
to the air, aa increased flow of urine. In large doses it is pa
gative.
' Guaiacum is a useful remedy,

1. In rheumatism and goat*

2. In certain venereal symptoms ; as in foul indolent ulcei
and a thickened state of the ligaments or periosteum, remaina
after the body is reduced by a mercurial course. Gnaiacum w
also suspend the progress of some of the secondary symptom
but it is totally incapable of eradicating the disease.

3. In cutaneous diseases.

4. In ozena, and scrofulous affections of the membranes ai
ligaments.

The wood is always exhibited in decoction. From the n
sinous nature of the active constituent of this substance this cai
not be a very active preparation, as the menstruum is totally n
capable of dissolving, though it may suspend a little of the resii

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OFFICINAL GTJAIACVM.

tss

The decoction of an ounce may be drunk in cnpfitb in the covin
©fa day.

The resin may be exhibited,

1. In substance, either made into pills, or suspended in water
in the form of an emulsion. Jn this way from 10 to 30 grains
of the resin may be taken in the day.

2. In solution ; in alcohol. About half an ounce of the tinc-
ture, with three ounces of water, is a sudorific dose for an adnlt,
if he attend to keeping himself warm.

3. Combined with an alkali.

PREPARATIONS.
Ti*c*u*i of Guaiacum. (Tinctura Guaiaci Officinalis. E.)
TVtke of gum guaiacum, in powder, one pound ;
■ alcohol, two pounds and a half:

Digest for ten days, and strain through paper.

Tjsctuiu of Guaiacum. (Tinctura GuaiacL D.)
Take of guaiacum, four ounces ;

rectified spirit of wine, two pints :

Digest for seren days, and filter.

What is called gum guaiacum is in fact a resin, and perfectly
soluble in alcohol. This solution is a powerful stimulating sudo-
rific, and may be given in doses of about half an ounce in rheu-
matic and arthritic cases. It was once supposed to be a specific
against the gout

Tincture of Guaiacum. (Tinctura Guaiaci. L.)

Take of guaiacum, in powder, four ounces ;
■ aromatic spirit of ammonia, a pint and a half:

Digest for three days, and filter.

Ammoniated Tihcturi or Guaiacum.
Ammoniata. E.D.)

Take of resin of guaiacum, in powder, four ounces ;

— — ammoniated alcohol, one pound and a half (one pint
and a half, D.):
Digest for seren days, and filter through paper.

These are very elegant and efficacious tinctures ; the ammo-
niated spirit readily dissolving the resin, and at the same time
promoting its medicinal virtue. In rheumatic cases, a tea- or

(Tinctura Guaiaci

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430 OFFICINAL' GUAIACUM.

e«e*talrie-ap*ofifai, taken erery morning and errmm§y in aty
conreoient rehicle, particularly in milk, has prored of sioguhr
senrice.

Coiipound Decoction op Guaiacum, commonly called De-
coction of the Woods. (Decoctum Guaiaci Compositam,
Tulgo Decoctum Lignbrum. £.)

Take of guaiacum raspings, three ounces;

raisins, stoned, two ounces ;

— sassafras root, sliced,

liquorice root, bruised, each one ounce;

water, ten pounds :

Boil the guaiacum and raisins with the water, over a gentle fire,
to the consumption of one half, adding, towards the end, the
sassafras and liquorice, and strain the dccoctioD, without ex-
pression.

This decoction is of use in some rheumatic and cutaneous af-
fections. It may be taken by itself, to the quantity of a quarter
of a pint, twice or thrice a day, or used as an assistant in a course
of mercurial or antimonial alterative*; the patient in either case
keeping warm, in order to promote the operation of the medicine.

Compound Lime Water. (AquaCalcis Composite D )

Take of gnaiacum wood, in shavings, half a pound;

* — ■ liquorice root, sliced and bruised, an ounce;

sassafras bark, bruised, half an ounce;

coriander seeds, three drachms;

— — lime water, six pints :.

Macerate, without heat, for two days, and filter.

This, though an infusion, may be considered as an improve-
ment of the compound decoction of guaiacum, as the lime water
cannot fail to be decomposed during the preparation.
PRESCRIPTIONS.

ft. 1. Take of guaiacum (guni resin), in powder, scruple 1,

conserve of hips, as much as is sufficient:

Make into a bolus, to be taken twice a day, for rheumatism.

ft. 2. Take of guaiacum (gum resin),

scammony, equal parts, grains 15,

— ■ syrup of ginger, as much as is sufficient.:

Make into a bolus, to be taken early in the morning in, rhei-
matism.

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OFFICINAL GUAIACUM.

431

ft. 3. Take of guaiacum (gum resin), in powder,

soap, equal parts - - - drachm 1,

essential oil of juniper berry, drops 4 :

Make into twenty-eight pills: take two four times a day. This
is an admirable remedy in rheumatism.

ft. 4. Take-of guaiacum (gum resin),

decoction of barley -

scruple

ounce

drachm

V
1:

syrup of Tolu -

Make into a draught, to be taken twice a day, drinking after it
a cup of warm barley water: for rheumatism, '

.ft. 5. Take of tincture of guaiacum - - drachms 3,
■ -cinnamon water,

" ♦ peppermint water, equal parts, drachms 0 :
Make into a draught, to be taken at twelve and seven every
day.

Dr. Cullen, speaking of the tincture, says, that " several phy-
sicians hare apprehended mischief from the use of the guaiacum
in a spirituous tincture, and I am certain that it sometimes hap-
pens. It is therefore that in imitation of the very respectable
Berger, of Copenhagen, 1 avoid the spirituous tincture of guai-
acum, and employ almost only the diffusion of it in water. In
preparing this, having first with an equal part of hard sugar re-
duced the guaiacum to a fine powder, I apply some portion of
the yolk of egg, or of a mucilage of gum Arabic, and rubbing
these together very carefully, I form an emulsion with water, or
watery liquors, as may be thought proper. This preparation I
give over night in such a quantity as may open the belly once
next day, which will happen to different persons from doses con-
taining fifteen to thirty grains of the guaiacum." M. M. 199.
Berger's formula is the following : ft . G. guaiaci J ss 6. Arabici
3 ij. Bene trita solv. in aquae hyssopi vol alius distill. £ ix. Add.
sacchari J ss m. d. s. solutio, cujus duo cochlearia majora mane
et vesperi capiantur, superbibito libra una decocti hordei yel
ayeo*. Vet Acad. Handl. voL i. p. 74. Theden recommends
the guaiacum made into pills with soap of almonds, which is still
more convenient. (Neue Remerk. u Ersahr, a. d. Wiindarzneyk,
and Are. p. % 204.) •

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WHITE FRAXINELLA,

BASTARD DITTANY.

DICTAMNUS ALBUS.

Class X. Decandria. Order I. Monogynia.
EssEirr. Ge\. Cbah. Calyx five-leaved: Petals five, spreading: Fo-
ments covered with glandular spots.
BMC, Char. Leaves pinnate : Stem simple.

DESCRIPTION.
This plant rises a foot and a half. The leaves are pinnated,
and large: pinnae oval, reined, pointed, slightly serrated, dis-
posed in pairs, terminated by an odd one, which is the biggest
Flowers are white, large, terminate. the stem, and stand upon
long peduncles. Fruit fife united capsules, each of which con-
tains two oval seeds. -

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WHITE FRAXINELLA, OK BASTARD DITTAHT* 455

HISTORY.
This plant is commonly called Fraxtne1]a, and is native of
France, Germany, and Italy. It emits a fragrant bituminous
odour, which seems to be the essential oil of the herb, secreted
by numerous small glands, with which the peduncles and fila-
ments are abundantly furnished. These odorous effluvia are so
? ery inflammable, that on the application of flame they take fire,
especially on the evening of a hot dry day.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

The root, which is the part directed for medicinal use, when
fresh, has a moderately strong, not disagreeable smell, but as met
with in the shops it has scarcely any. To the taste it discover*
i pretty strong and very durable bitterness, which is taken up
both by watery and spirituous menstrua, and, on inspissating the
filtered tinctures, remains entire in the extracts: the aqueous
extract is in much larger quantity than the spirituous, and pro-
portionably weaker in taste.

Formerly this .root was used as a stomachic, tonic, and alexi-
pharmic, and was supposed' to be a medicine of much efficacy
n remoTing uterine obstructions and destroying worms ; bnt
ts medicinal powers became so little regarded by modern phy-
ticians, that it had fallen almost entirely into disuse, till baron
itoerck brought it into notice by publishing several cases of its
uccess, viz. in tertian intermittent, worms (lumbrici), and
nenstrual suppressions. In all these cases he employed the pow-
lered root to the extent of a scruple twice a day. He also made
ise of a tincture, prepared of two ounces of the fresh root di-
eted in fourteen ounces of spirit of wine; of this twenty. to
ifty drops, two or three times a day, were successfully pre*
cribed in epilepsies, &c. : and when joined with steel, tins root)
re are told, was of great service to chlortotic patients.

The dictamnus undoubtedly is a medicine of considerable
tower ; but, notwithstanding the account of it given by Stoerck,
rho seems to have paid little attention to its modus operandi, we
lay still say with Haller, " Nondum autem vires pro dignitate
xploratus est**

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COMMON RUE.

RUTA GRAVEOLENS.

Class X. Decandria. Order I. Moaogjrnia.
Ettnrr. Gen. Cbak. O^ir fife-parted: PsUts coacafe: EatsfUaUt

rounded with tea honey-bearing poiaU : Capsule lobed.
8pxc. Chab. Leeoef twice compound : Lateral fiomrs quadrifid.'

DESCRIPTION.
This plant rises a foot in height The leaves consist of doable
-sets of irregular pinnae, are blunt at the ends, and of a glaucous
colour. Flowers numerous, of a pale yellow. Petals fire, deo-
tated, or fringed at the edges.

HISTORY.
This shrub is native of the south of Europe, flowers fron
June to September, and is common in the gardens.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
It is supposed to be antipestileotial, and hence our benches
of judges hare their noses regaled with this most foetid pUnt:
this arose from the ancients beUeriog that mithridate, in wbica

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COMMON HUE.

435

rue has a principal share, repels all poisons. Hence this adage,
" Salvia com rata facfant tibi pocola tuta."

It is made into tea, and drank with advantage to cure hyste-
rica, Fits in infants are often- cured by the syrup.

Boerhaave celebrates the numerous virtues of this plant, and
amongst its many properties enumerates* " that mixed with wine
and salt it stops gangrene, restores vitality to the part, prevents
suppuration, and heals the wound."— " Haec herba est lauda.
tissima, inter alias alexipharmacas, antidoxicas, antihysterioas, an-
tiepilepticas, antiapoplecticas, antispasmodicas, antipestilentiales,
antiphlogisticas, antigangnenosas refertur ; nam cum pars jam
gangraena est mortua, si haec herba cum vino et sale contusa ap-
plicetur, vitaut iterum reddit, suppurationem prohibet, et pars

It is strongly recommended as a cure of bad eyes. " Visum
acuit si mane bibatur instar thee, et vapor oculo excipiatur."
That is, if taken as tea in the morning, and the vapour of it be
received by the eyes, the vision will be improved, and all disease
of that organ removed. '

« Nobilb e* rata, quia lamina reddit acuta."

And the author of this work has several times, with himself
and others, cured the most violent inflammations of the eyes by
the vapour of boiling water alone: so much for the probability
of this practice with rue, as reported by the great Boerhaave !

3f*

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BALSAM OF TOLU TREE.

TOLUIFERA BALSAMUM.

Class X. He randria. Order I. Monogynta.
Lssent. Gen. Char. .Calyx five-toothed, campanalate: Petals fi*c, the
lowest largest, obcordate : Style none.

DESCRIPTION.

1 sir tree grows to a great height. The leaves are OTal or ovate,
and stand upon short footstalks. The fruit is a round berry.

HISTORY.
This tree grows in Spanish America ; the balsam flows from
incisions made in its bark during the hot season, and is brought
to us in little gourd shells. It is of a yellowish brown colour,
inclining to red ; in consistence thick and tenacious : by age it
grows hard and brittle. The smell of this balsam is extremely
fragrant, somewhat resembling that of lemons ; its taste warm
and sweetish. Lewis says that he has sometimes procured ben-
zoic acid from it. It yields very little volatile oil, although it
impregnates the distilled water strongly with its flavour. By
dissolving a proper quantity of sugar in this water, a more elc-

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B&LSAM OF TOLU TREE. 437

gant syrup is obtained than that prepared iu the common way.
with a decoction of the balsam, in its medical virtues it agrees
with the other balsams.

PREPARATIONS.
Tincture or tiie Balsam op Tolu. (Tinctura Toluiferi Bal-
sami, olim Tiuctura Tolu tana. £. Tinctura Balsami Tolu.
tani. L. D.)

Take of balsam of Tolu, an ounce and a half (one ounce, D.)

alcohol, ouc pound (one pint, L. D.):

Digest until the balsam be dissolved ; and then strain the tincture
through paper.

This solution of balsam of Tolu possesses aH the virtues of the
balsam itself. It may be taken intern ally, with the several in-
tentions for which that balsam is proper, to the quantity of a
tea-spoonful or two, in any convenient vehicle. Mixed with
simple syrup, it forms an elegant balsamic syrnp.

Syrup op Tolu. (Syrupus Tolutanus. L.)

Take of the balsam of Tolu, eight ounces ;

distilled water, three pints :

Boil for two hours. Mix double refined sugar with the liquor,
strained after it is cold, that it may be made a syrup.

The intention of the contrivers of the two foregoing processes
seems to have been somewhat different. In the latter, which is
certainly the most elegant, the benzoic acid of the balsam alone
is contained; the other syrup contains the whole substance of
the balsam in larger quantity. They are both moderately im-
pregnated with the agreeable flavour of the balsam.

The syrup of Tolu usually enters into the composition of

other medicines, except when given in the form of lozenges for

a cold, which may be procured of almost any chemist, and fa

certainly very serviceable in appeasing the irritation productive

of severe coughing. The following forms an agreeable and very

useful prescription in almost every cough, and merits justly the

title of a placebo.

PRESCRIPTION.

$ . 1 . Take of spermaceti dissolved in the white of egg, scr. 1 ,

"' '■ ■ ■ syrup of Tolu ---••••dr. %

i> cinnamon water - * - - - - dr. 8,

■ ■ ■ milk of almonds - - .... dr. IX:

Make into a draught, to be taken four times a day*

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COPAIVA TREE.

COPAIFERA OFFICINALIS.

Clots X. Decandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Emkjtt. Gnf . Char. &(y« none : Petab four : Lcgwnea ovate ; Seed oae,
wita a berried arttlos.

DESCRIPTION.
1 his tree grows to a great height The leaves are pinnated,
large, consisting of several pair of pinnae and an odd one, on
short footstalks. The flowers are white, and inconspicuous.
Petals four, acute, spreading.

HISTORY.

The tree which produces this resin is a nathre of the Spanish
West India islands, and of some parts of South America, ft
grows to a large size, and the resinous juice flows in considera-
ble quantities from incisions made in the trunk.

The juice is clear and transparent, of a whitish or pale yel-
lowish colour, an agreeable smell, and a bitterish pungent taste,

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COPAIVA TREB. 439

It is usually about the consistence of ofl, or a Httle thicker;
when long kept, it becdmes nearly as thick as honey, retaining
its clearness ; but it has not been observed to grow dry or solid,
as most of the other resinous juices do. The best resin of co-
paiva comes from Brazil ; but we sometimes meet with a thick
sort, which is not at all transparent, or much less so than the
foregoing, and generally has a portion of turbid watery liquor
at the bottom. This is probably either adulterated by the mix-
tare of other substances, or has been extracted by decoction
from the bark and branches of the tree : its smell and taste are
much less pleasant than those of the genuine resin.

Pure resin of copaiva dissolves entirely in alcohol : the solu-
tion has a very fragrant smell Distilled With water it yields a
large quantity of a limpid essential oil, but no benzoic acid : it
is therefore not a balsam, but a combination of resin and vola-
tile oil. Neumann says that it effervesces with liquid ammonia.

MEDICAL VIRTUE8.

The resin of copaiva is an useful corroborating detergent me-
dicine, but in some degree irritating. It strengthens the nervous
system, tends to loosen the belly ; in large doses proves purga-
tive, promotes urine, and cleans and heals ulcerations in the
urinary passages, which it is supposed to perform more effec-
tually than any of the other resinous fluids. Fuller observes
that it gives the urine an intensely bitter taste, but not a violet
smell, as the turpentines do.

This resin has been principally celebrated in gleets, and the
fluor albus, and externally as a vulnerary.

The dose of this medicine rarely exceeds twenty or thirty
drops, though some authors direct sixty, or upwards. It may
be conveniently taken in the* form of an emulsion, into which it
nay be reduced by triturating it with almonds, with a thick
mucilage of gum arabic, or with the yolk of eggs, till they are
well incorporated, and then gradually adding a proper quantity
of water.

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BENJAMIN or BENZOIN TREE.

STYRAX BENZOIN.

Class X. Decandria. Order I, Monogynia.
Ewewt. Gen. Chah. Same as Hie last.
Spec. Cm a a. Leave* abloiig, acamiaate, beaeath
oomfcHmad, leagta of the leaves.

DESCRIPTION.

1 his tree grows to a great height The leaves are obloog,
entire) veined, tapering to a sharp point; the upper surface
smooth, beneath downy, standing alternately upon short foot-
stalks. The flowers are placed on common peduncles arising
from the azills of each leaf. The corolla is bell-shaped, and the
border out into five segments, but closed, which gives the ap-
pearance of buds.

HISTORY.
This species of storax grows in Sumatra, and, like the foroer,
also furnishes a balsam on being wounded, which is brought from

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BENJAMIN OR BENZOIN TREE. 441

the East Indies, in large masses, Composed of white and light
brown pieces, with yellowish specks, breaking very easily betwixt
the hands; that which is whitest, and freest from impurities, is
most esteemed.

MEDICAL USE.

In its properties it differs from storax only in containing a
larger proportion of benzoic acid. Neumann found that it was
totally soluble in alcohol, forming a blood-red tincture, and that
water extracted no gummy matter, but a notable proportion of
^benzoic acid. By sublimation he got two ounces of impure acid
from sixteen of benzoin. Lime and the alkaline carbonates dis-
solve the acid without attacking the resin, and are accordingly
employed in the processes of Scheele, Gbttling, and Gren, for
obtaining the benzoic acid. 1 find that the solution of potass dis-
solves benzoin very rapidly, forming a dark-coloured solution,
mixed with fine crystals of benzoat of potass. This alkaline so-
lution is not decomposed by water, but forms with acids a rose-
coloured coagulum, easily soluble in excess of acid. Boiling ni-
trous acid also attacks benzoin with great violence, and dissolved
it entirely ; the solution becomes turbid, and lets fall a copious
precipitate on cooling, which, according to Mr. Brande, is ben-
zoic acid. It is decomposed by water, and by alkaline solutions.

PREPARATIONS.
Benzoic Acid. (Acidum Benzoicum. £.)

Take of benzoin, twenty-four ounces ;

carbonate of soda, eight ounces ;

water, sixteen pounds;

Triturate the benzoin with the carbonate, then boil in the water
for half an hour, with constant agitation, and strain. Repeat
the decoction, with other six pounds of water, and strain. Mix
these decoctions, and evaporate until two pounds remain. Filter
anew, and drop into the fluid, as long as it produces any pre-
cipitation, diluted sulphuric acid. Dissolve the precipitated ben-
zoic acid in boiling water, strain the boiling solution through
linen, and set it aside to crystallize. Wash the crystals with
cold water, dry aad preserve them.

Acid op Benzoin. (Acidom Benzoes. D.)

Take of benzoin, any quantity ;
Liquefy it in a retort with a wide throat, having a receiver fitted

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442 BENJAMIN OR BENZOIN THEE.

to it, but not luted ; and sublime. Remove the sublimed matter
occasionally from the neck of the retort, lest it accumulate in
too great a quantity. If it be soiled with oil, separate the oil
by pressing it, folded np in blotting paper, and repeat the sub.
liniation.

Flowers op Benzoin. (Flores Benzoes. L.)

Take of benzoin, in powder,' one pound :
Pat it into an earthen pot, placed in sand, and, with a slow
fire, sublime the flowers into a paper cone fitted to the pot

If the flowers be of a yellow colour, mix them with white clay,
and sublime them a second time. ,

The distinguishing character of balsams is their containing
benzoic acid, which may be separated from the resin, their other
principal constituent, either by sublimation, or by combining
it with a salifiable base. The London and Dublin colleges direct
it to be done in the former way. But, even with the greatest
care, it is almost impossible to manage the heat so as not to de-
compose part of the resin, and thus give rise to the formation
of an empyreumatic oil, which contaminates the product Nor
can it be freed completely from the empyreumatic oil by bibulous
paper, as prescribed by the Dublin college, and still less by the
second sublimation with clay, directed by that of London.

The other method of separating benzoic acid from resin was
first practised by Scheele, who employed lime water; Gottling
afterwards used carbonate of potass ; and, lastly, Gren nsed car-
bonate of soda, which has been adopted by the Berlin college,
and now by that of Edinburgh. Mr. Brande* prefers Scheele's
process, as the lime dissolves less of the resin of the benzoin than
the alkalies do. In experiments, which he made for the purpose
of ascertaining the comparative value of the different processes,
he obtained from one pound of benzoin,

By sublimation .....

— Scheele's process . - - -

— Gren's and'Gottling's process

— boiling benzoin in water • •
As the crystallized acid, on account of its lightness and elas.

ticity, is not easily reduced to powder, for most purposes it will
be more convenient to keep it in the state of a precipitate.
It may also be extracted from storax, and all the other bal-

oz.

dr.

8cr.

*r.

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BENJAMIN OR BENZOIN TRRB. 443

tains, particularly those of Tola or Peru'; and from the urine
of children, and of herbivorous animals.

The benzoic acid has an agreeable taste, and a fragrant smell,
especially when heated. It is soluble in alcohol, and in boiling
water, but very sparingly in cold water, although it may be sus-
pended in it, by means of sugar, so as to form an elegant baU
sarnie syrup. The dose is ten grains to half a drachm.

Compound Tincture of Benzoin. (Tinctura Benzoes Com*
posita, vulgi Balsamum Traumaticum. E.)

Take of benzoin, in powder, three ounces;

■ balsam of Tolu, one ounce;

■ socotrine aloes, in powder, half an ounce ;
— — alcohol, two pounds :

Digest with a gentle heat for seven days, and strain.

. Compound Tincture of Benzoin. (Tinctura Benzoes
Composita. L.D.)

Take of benzoin, three ounces ;

■ purified storax, two ounces ;

■ balsam of Tolu, one ounce ;

■ socotrine aloes, half an ounce ;
rectified spirit of wine, two pints :

Digest for seven days, and filter.

Both preparations may be considered as elegant simplifications
of some very complicated compositions, which were celebrated
under different names; such as Baume de Commandeur, Wade's
balsam, Friar's balsam, Jesuit's drops, &c These, in general,
consisted of a confused farrago of discordant substances. The
dose b a tea-spoooful in some cold water four times a day, in
consumptions and spitting of blood. It is useful also when ap.
plied on lint to recent wounds, and serves the purpose of a scab,
bat must not be soon removed. Poured on sugar it removes
spitting of blood immediately.

PRESCRIPTION.

I£. 1. Take of compound tincture of benzoin, drops 40,

'— — purified honey - - - - drachms 1,

■ rose water • .... ounce 1£,

■ tincture of opium • - - . drops 3:
Make into a draught, to be taken four times a day. Excellent
in consumptions.

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OFFICINAL STORAX.

STVRAX OFFICINALE.

Clou X. Decandria. Order I. Monogynia.
EtttENT. Gem. Char. Calgx beneath: Corolla funnel-shaped : Dnpt

two-seeded.
Spec. Char. Leaves ovate, tnidenieath villous: Racemes simple, shorter

thaa the leaf.

DESCRIPTION.

This tree rises to twenty feet The leaves are broad, entire,
somewhat pointed, and on the upper surface smooth, on the
under surface covered with a white down ; these are placed al-
ternate, and stand upon short footstalks. The flowers are large,
white, and terminate the branches. The border of the corolla is
eut into five segments.

HISTORY.

This tree grows in the Levant, Italy, and France. The sto-
rax flows from wounds made in the bark, hi countries where the
heat is sufficient, for neither in France nor in Italy does it fur-
nish any. It occurs cither in small distinct tears, of a whitish
or reddish colour, or in large masses composed of tears, or in
masses of an uniform texture, and yellowish Ted or brownish

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OFFICINAL STORAX. 445

colour; though sometimes likewise interspersed with a few
whitish grains.

The common storax of the shops is in large masses, consider-
ably lighter and less compact than the foregoing : it appears on
examination to be composed of a resinous juice, mixed with
sawdust.

Storax has an agreeable smell, and an aromatic taste. Neu-
mann got from 480 grains, 360 alcoholic, and 30 of watery ex-
tract; and inversely, 120 watery, and 240 alcoholic. In di.
stillation it yielded benzoic acid. It is therefore a balsam, or
natuial combination of resin with benzoic acid*

PREPARATIONS.
Purified Storax. (Sty rax Purificata. L.)

Dissolve the storax in rectified spirit of wine, and strain the so.
lution ; afterwards reduce it to a proper thickness, with a gentle

heat.

Dub.

Digest the storax in water, with a low heat, until it gets soft ;
then express it between iron plates, heated with boiling water ;
and, lastly, separate it from the water.

Storax is a balsam, or combination of resin and benzoic acid,
both of which are soluble in alcohol, and neither of them volatile
in the heat necessary for evaporating alcohol. The London pro-
cess for purifying is expensive, and the Dublin college cannot
have altered it without good reason.

Pills of Ofium. (Pilulae Opii. L.)
Take of hard purified opium, powdered, two drachms ;

extract of liquorice, one ounce :

Beat (hem until they are perfectly ut.ited.

Storax Pills. (Pilulae e Sty race. D.)
Take of purified storax, three drachms ;

soft purified opium,

saffron, of each one drachm :

Beat them into an uniform mass.

Opiate or Thebaic Pills. (Pilulae Opiatae, olim Pilulae

Thebaic*. £.)
Take of opium, one part ;

extract of liquorice, seven parts ;

Jamaica pepper, two parts :

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446 OFFICINAL STORAX.

Soften the opium, and extract separate]/ with diluted alcohol;
and, having beat them into a pulp, mix them : then add the
pepper reduced to a powder ; and, lastly, having beat them well
together, form the whole into a mass.

It is unfortunate that these compositions should differ so much
in strength, the two former containing two, and the latter only
one grain of opium, in ten of the mass. Under'the idea that
opium is to operate as a sedative, the addition of the pepper w
somewhat injudicious. The London title also is improper, as it
is naturally employed for pills of opium without any addition.
Even the title adopted by the Edinburgh college is ambiguous.
That of the Dublin appears to me well contrived, although it
does not mention the only active ingredient; as it is often ne-
cessary to conceal from our patients that we are giving them
opium, which both the name .and smell of the storax enable us
to do. The dose is four or five grains, to be given at bed-time.
This produces often a very comfortable night, and without that
disturbance which opium often creates.

PRESCRIPTION,
ft. Take of purified storax - - grains 8,

■ aromatic powder - grains 5,

■ purified opium - - grains 3,

— — syrup of Tolu, as much as is sufficient :
Make into six pills. Take a pill every night This often pro-
duces a less distress of the head and stomach the following morn-
ing than opium by itself.

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BITTER QUASSIA.

QUASSIA AMARA.

dott X. Decandria. Order I. Monogynia. v
Emext. Gew. Cmae. Calpx five-leaved : Peteli five : Nectmry fire-leaved :

Pcricarpg five, dlstaot.
8pbc. Char. Flower* bisexual, in spikes: Lumt* pinnate, ending in an

odd one : Pimue opposite, sessile, on an articulated winged petiole.

DESCRIPTION.

This tree rises several feet in height. The wood is light and
white. The leaves are placed alternately on the branches, and
consist of two pairs of opposite pinnae, with an odd one at the
end. The common footstalk is articulated and winged, with a
leafy membrane. The flowers are of a bright red colour. The
bractes or floral leaves are small, and accompany each peduncle,
or flower-stalk. The calyx is small, coloured, and has five
teeth. The corolla is composed of five petals. The nectary
consists of fire small rounded scales. The stamina are conspi-
cuous, as well as the nectary.

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448 BITTER QUAS8IA.

HISTORY.

This is the root of a tree growing near to Surinam, in South
America ; it got iti name from a slave who was first known to
use it in the cure off fever*. The tree is described by Dr. Bloom
in the sixth volume of Iinmeas's Amcsnitates Academics, where
we hare likewise an account of the use of the root

This root is about the thickness of a man's arm ; its wood is
whitish, becoming yellowish by exposure to the air. It has a
thin, gray, fissured, brittle bark, whkh is deemed, in Surinam,
more powerful than the wood. Quassia has no sensible odour,
but is one of the most intense, durable) pure bitters known. Its
infusion, decoction, and tincture, are almost equally bitter and
yellowish, and are not blackened by chalybeate*. The proper,
ties of the extract of quassia havo been detailed by Dr. Thomson,
under the title ot the bitter principle.

MEDICAL USE.

This root is extremely bitter; it has been given in powder
from ten graius to half a drachm for a dose, every three, four,
or six hours ; or one or two ounces of an infusion, made of two
drachms of it and a pint of boiling water, have been given as
often, in bilious, remitting, and intermitting fevers. In the
year 1767, Mr. Farley, of Autigua, sent home an account of
three or four cases of bilious and putrid fevers in which the bark
would not stay on the stomach, but in which this root produced
every good effect that could have been wished ; and his account
was published in the fifty-eighth volume of the Philosophical
Transactions.

I. have frequently ordered, with success, both the pow(Jer and
the infusion of the root, in fevers ; and have likewise found it to
be a good stomachic bitter in many cases.

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SIMARUBA QUASSIA.

QUASSIA SIMARUBA.

CUue X. Decandria. Order I. Monogynla.
Esanrr. Geh. Cmak. The tame as the last.

Spvc. Cbab. Flotoen monoecious: Leaves abruptly pinnate: Leaflet* al-
ternate, rabpetioled i FUwert in panicles.

DESCRIPTION.
T his tree reaches a considerable height.

The leaves are nu-

merous, and stand alternately on the branches. Each leaf is
composed of several pinnae, of an elliptic shape. The flowers
are small and yellow, and placed on panicles, which are only
branched spikes. Calyx small. Corolla composed of fire small
petals. Nectary ten hairy scales.

HISTORY.

This tree grows in Guiana and in Jamaica. The slmarouba

of the shops is the bark of the root of this tree, and not of the

quassia amara, as stated by the Dublin college. It is brought

tm us in pieces some feet long, and some inches broad, folded

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450 SIMARUBA QUASSIA.

lengthwise. It It light, fibrous, very tough ; of a pale yellow
on the inside; darker coloured, rough, scaly, and warted on
the outside; has little smell, and a bitter, .not disagreeable taste.
It gives out its bitterness both to alcohol and water.

MEDICAL USE.
It has been much celebrated in obstinate eHstfriicsa, dysentery,
anorexia, indigestion, Iienteria, and intermittent fevers.

It is given in powder, in doses of half a drachm, or a whole
drachm ; but it is too bulky, and very difficultly pulverizable.
It is best exhibited in decoction. Two drachms of the bark
may be boiled in two pounds of water to one, and the decoction
drunk in cupfuls in the course of the day*.
PRESCRIPTIONS.
$. 1. Take of the raspings of quassia • drachms 2,

• orange-peel • - - - drachms 3,

— : lemon-peel .... drachms 4,

boiling water - - - - pound 1:

Let this remain for four hours in a closed saucepan, then stiaia
off. The dose is three table-spoonfuls at twelve, seven, and
bed-time. A very fine stomachic medicine.

I£. 2. Take of the soft extract of quassia - drachm 1,

essential oil of peppermint - drop 1 :

Make into twelve pills, of which take three, an hour before din-
ner. Excellent to create digestion in habits injured by hard
drinking.

$. 3. Take of shavings of quassia - drachms 2,
' boiling water - - - pint 1 :

Let this remain in a close vessel until cold, when strain off, and
add to the strained liquor,

Compound tincture of cardamom - ounces %
Compound spirit of lavender • - drachms 4, •
. Powder of rhubarb ..... scruple 1 :

Take three table-spoonfuls an hour before dinner, to create aa
appetite.

fy. 4. Take of the infusion of quassia (as in the last pre-
scription) ....... ounce 1,

cinnamon water ... drachms 4,

compound spirit of ammonia, drops 20,

— prepared oyster-shells - grains 2:

Hake into a draught to be taken at twelve and seven everyday.
This relieves sickness and qualms in pregnancy.

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TRAILING ARBUTUS, or BEAR-BERRY.

ARBUTUS UVA URSL

CfaftX* Decandfia. Order I. Moaogynia.
Em»T. G«w. Char. Calyx llve-paitsd x CtroUm Orate: ftMatlt with a
pellucid bate : Btrry fire-celled.

DESCRIPTION*

1 his rises to a large shrub. Leares numerous, oblong, ob-
tuse, narrower towards the base, entire, fleshy, without foot-
stalks, very closely surrounding the upper part of the stalk.
Flowers whitish, or flesh-coloured, terminating the stem hi clus-
ters. Calyx small and toothed. Corolla found, bellied, at the
margin cut into fire segments, which become reflexed.

HISTORY.
. This is a Ycry small erergreen shrub. The leares are oral,
not toothed, and their under surface is smooth and pale green*
It grows wild in the woods, and on sand-hills in Scotland, and

*g2

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45? TRAILING ARBUTUS, OR BEAR-BERRY.

in almost every country in Europe. The green leaves alone,
Dr. Bourne says, should be selected and picked from the twigs,
send dried by a moderate exposure to heat. The powder, when
properly prepared, is of a light brown tolour, with a shade of
greenish yellow, has nearly the smell of good grass hay as cat
from the rick, and to the taste is at first smartly astringent and
bitterish ; which sensations gradually soften into a liquorice fla-
vour. ' Digested in alcohol they give out a green tincture, which
is rendered turbid by water, and when filtered passes transparent
and yellow, while a green resin remains on the filter. They
are powerfully astringent, approaching, in the deepness of the
colour which they give to red sulphate of iron, more nearly to
nut-galls than any substance I have tried. Indeed in some parts
of Russia they are used for tanning.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

The medical effects of this medicine depend entirely on its
astringent and tonic powers. It is therefore used in various
fluxes arising from debility, monorrhagia, fluor albus, cystirrhcea,
diabetes, enuresis, diarrhoea, dysentery, &c. It has been strongly
recommended in phthisical complaints by Dr. Bourne, and in
diseases of the urinary organs by De Haen, particularly in ul-
cerations of the kidneys and bladder. . It certainly alleviates the
dyspeptic symptoms accompanying nephritic complaints. It is
commonly given in the form of powder, in doses of from twenty
to sixty grains three or four times a day.

The illustrious Haller, speaking of this plant, says, " the ia-
fudon is bitter and astringent, the aqueous extract has the smell
of honey with the properties of the infusion. The spirituous in-
fusion is likewise bitter. Besides, we extract a green resin which
has the odour of wax. The decoction is bitter, and leaves a heat
in the throat By distillation we obtain an acid liquor."

It is this acid liquor which attacks the calculi formed in the
human body, reduces them to small pieces, and softens those
that cannot be thus split, or broken : of 150 calculi which we
submitted to this testy there was not one but was acted upon by
this acid liquor.

When taken internally it destroys that glutinous matter which
forms with the terrene part calculi, and hence prevents the forma-
tion of this dreadful disease. This liquor was injected into the
bladders of dogs, and produced with them no inconvenience,

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TRAILING ARBUTUS, OR BEAR-BEERY. 453

and remained :— Might not the same process be successfully em-
ployed with the human subject ? We never observed any mis-
chief arising from the use of this plant; we have found it good
in all disorders of the kidneys or bladder, and also in the he-
morrhoids and strangury. De Haen gives a drachm of the
leaves in p.owder at a dose two or three times a day. Werlhof
has employed it with success in gravel. In two cases of con-
sumption it did not succeed.

In this country the fate of this remedy has been reversed ; for
it has acquired considerable fame in pulmonary consumption,
and sunk in reputation as a specific in calculous disorders. Dr.
Withering, speaking of the effects of this plant, says, a Per-
haps, upon the whole, we shall find it no better than other ve-
getable astringents, some of which, have long been used by the
country people in gravelly complaints, and with very great ad-
vantage, though hitherto unnoticed by the regular practitioners.'*

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7 H v

LOGWOOD,

H.EMATOXYLUM CAMPECHIANUM.

Class X. Decandria. Order I. Monogyni*.
Eudtt. Gen. Char. Calyx five-parted : Petals five: Capsule lanceolate,
one-celled, two-valved : Valvtt navicular.

DESC&IPTION.
1 his rises to a moderate sized tree. Its branches are defended
with sharp spines. The leaves are pinnated, composed of four
or five pair of pinnae, heart-shaped, and obliquely veined. The
flowers are yellow, small, and numerous.
HISTORY,
This tree was introduced from the Honduras into Jamaica,
where it is now very common. The wood is firm, heavy, and
of a dark red colour. Its taste is sweet, with a slight degree of
astringency. It forms a precipitate with solution of gelatine,
very readily soluble in excess of gelatine, and with sulphate of
iron it strikes a brighter blue than any other astringent I have
tried. It is used principally as a dye-wood, but also with con-
siderable advantage in medicine.

MEDICAL USE.
Its extract is sweet, and slightly astringent; and is therefore
useful in obstinate diarrhoeas, and in chronic dysentery. Of
the extract one to two scruples is given four times a day.

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MAHOGANY TREE.

SWIETENIA MAHAOONI.

Class X. Decandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Emewt. Geh. Cbak. Calyx five-cleft: Petals five: Nectary cylindric,
bearing the aotbers at its mouth : Capsule five-celled* ligneous, dehiscent
at the base : Seed imbricated, winged.

DESCRIPTION.

1 his is a very large tree, well known, as producing the hardest

tables, and when polished of exceeding great beauty. Leaves

are pinnated, alternate, composed of three, four, or five pinnae,

lance-shaped, acute, on short footstalks. Flowers numerous,

small, white.

HISTORY.

This majestic tree grows principally in Jamaica and in Spanish
America. Its useful wood is universally known* Its bark is
brown, rough, and scaly, on the branches gray and smoother.
Its taste is very astringent, and more bitter than that of Peruvian
bark. Its smell weak and aromatic.

MEDICAL VtRTTJE.

In its action on the living body, it is said to coincide nearly
vrith Pern? km fork, and may be substituted for it in many situa-
tions.

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YELLOW-PLOWERED RHODODENDRON.

RHODODENDRON CHRYSANTHUS.

ClattX, Decandria. Order I. Monogynla.
IUsmit. Geh. Cbak. Calyx five-parted : Corolla fannel-sbaped, border

cat into five irregular segments : Stamina declined : CoptuU fire-celled.
Spec. Cha*. Loavet oblong, above rough, veined, beneath smooth:

Corolla rotate, irregular.

DESCRIPTION.

This shrub rises a foot in height. The leaves are opposite
below, above clustered like a rose; of a deep green colour
above, aiid ferruginous beneath. The flowers are in umbels, of
a bright yellow colour. The stamina are very distinctly seen
in this plant, and curl upwards to the pistil*

HISTORY.

This small shrub grows in* the coldest situations, and highest
parts of the snow-covered mountains in East Siberia, and espe-
cially in Dauria, The leaves are oblong, rigid) reflected at the
edges, , rough on die upper surface, smooth, and paler on the

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YELLOW-FLOWERED RHODODENDRON. 457

lower. When dried, they have no smell, but a rough, astrin-
gent, and bitterish taste. They also contain a stimulant nar-
cotic principle ; for they increase the heat of the body, excite
thirst, and produce diaphoresis, or an increased discharge of the
other secretions or excretions y and, in a large dose, inebriation
and delirium.

MEDICAL USE.

In decoction it is used in Siberia in rheumatism and gout.
About two drachms of the dried shrub are infused in an earthen
pot, with about ten ounces of boiling water, keeping it near a
boiling heat for a night, and the infusion taken in the mo ning.
Besides its other effects, it is said to produce a sensation of
prickling or creeping in the pained parts; but in a few hours
the pain and disagreeable symptoms are relieved, and two or
three doses generally complete the cure. Liquids are not allowed
during its operation, as they are apt to induce vomiting.

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SAXIFRAGE.

SAXIFRAGA GRANULATA.

CifliiX, Decandria. Order II. Digynia.

Embict. Gen. Char. Calyx five-parted : Corolla five petals : Capnle two-
beaked, one-celled, many-seeded.

Spec. Char. Leavet cauline, reniform, lobed : Stem ramous : Root gra-
nulated.

DESCRIPTION.
JKoot composed of small bulbs adhering to fine fibres. Stalk
rises a foot. Leaves kidney-shaped, toothed. Flowers white,

conspicuous.

HISTORY.

Native of England. Flowers in April and May. Found on
dry situations.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

From its little tubercles, it has been supposed to point out a
hidden power in this plant to break stones in the kidneys and
bladder ; but this reputation, probably, is wholly owing to po-
pular superstition.

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CLOVE PINK.

DIANTHUS CARYOPHYLLUS.

Class X. Dleandria. Order II. Digynia.
Essext. Gnr. Char. Calyx cylindrical, one -leafed, at the base four

scales : Petals five, clawed : Capsule cylindric, one-celled.
Spec. Char. Flower* single : Calycine scales snbovate, very short : CorQlta

r DESCRIPTION.

I his plant rises from one to two feet in height Stem slender,
jointed. Leaves linear, placed in pairs at the joints. The
flowers are of a deep crimson colour.

HISTORY.

This species of dianthus is perennial, and a native of Italy,
though now found wild on the walls of old castles in England.
By cultivation its varieties have increased to a very great number,
and they form one of the greatest ornaments of our gardens.
Most of these are termed carnations ; but the variety which is
officinal surpasses all the others in the richness of its smell. It
is also distinguished by being of an uniform deep crimson colour.
It is now scarcely, if at all, to be found in Scotland, and instead

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460 CLOVE PINK.

of it the crimson carnations are commonly used to give the co-
lour to the *yrup, while for its flavour it is indebted to the spice
clore. Their only use in pharmacy is to give a pleasant flavour
and beautiful colour to an officinal syrup.

PREPARATIONS.

Syrup of Clove July- flower. (Sympus Dianthi
CaryophyllL E.)

Take of clove July-flowers, fresh gathered, and freed from
the heels, one pound ;

double refined sugar, seven pounds.;

boiling water, fonr pounds :

Macerate the petals in the water for twelve hours ; and dissolve
in the filtered infusion the sugar, in powder, by a gentle beat,
so as to form a syrup. '

Syrup of Clove July-flower. (Syrupns Caryophylli
Rubri. L. IX)

Take of fresh clove July-flowers, two pounds ;

boiling distilled water, six pints :

Macerate for twelve hours in a glass vessel ; and in the strained
liquor dissolve double refined sugar, so as to form a syrup.

As the beauty of the colour is principally attended to in this
syrup, no force should be used in expressing the infusion from
the flowers.

Some have substituted for it one easily prepared at seasons
when the flowers are not to be procured : an ounce of spice
cloves is infused for some days in twelve ounces of white wine,
the liquor strained, and, with the addition of twenty ounces of
sugar, boiled to the proper consistence of a syrup, to which a
little cochineal gives a colour exactly similar to that prepared
from the cIotc July-flower ; and its flavour is of the same kind,
though not so pleasant The counterfeit may be readily de*
tec ted, by adding to a little of the syrup some alkaline salt or
ley, which will change the genuine syrup to a green colour;
but in the counterfeit it will make no such alteration, only
varying the shade of the red.

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WOOD-SORREL.

OXALIS ACETOSELLA.

Cims X. Decandria. Order V. Pentandria.
Esskjit. Gkc . Char, Calyx five-leaved : Pttak adhering by their claws :

Capsule five-sided, exploding its seeds.
Spec. Chab. Scape one-flowered : Leaves ternate-obcordate : Root dentate.

DESCRIPTION.
This plant rises to a small height. The root runs horizontal,
scaly, or toothed. The leaves grow three together, each being
heart-shaped. The leaf-stalks are about three inches long. The
flowers are large and white, or flesh-coloured, and elegantly
streaked with red veins.

HI8TORT.
This is a small perennial plant, which grows wild in woods
and under shady hedges, and flowers in April and May. The

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462 WOOP-SOBREL.

leares contain a considerable quantity of super.oxalate of potass,
and hare an extremely pleasant acid taste. They possess the
same powers with the vegetable acids in general, and may be •
given in infusion, or beaten with sugar into a conserve, orboileff
with milk to form an acid whey. The super-oxalate of potass
is extracted in large quantities from them, and sold under the
name of Essential Salt of Lemons.

•Twenty pounds of the fresh leaves yielded to Neumann sis
pounds of juice, from which he got two ounces two drachms
and a scruple of salt, besides two ounces and sir drachms of an
impure saline mass.

MEDICAL USE.

A conserve b ordered by the Royal College, which is useful
in inflammatory diseases : a whey is likewise made by boiling
this plant in milk ; and it is used in soups in hot weather, and
tends to allay heat and thirst.

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WALL-STONE CROP, or WALL PEPPER.

SSDUM ACRE.

Close Xy Decandria. Order V. Pentagynta.
Embht. Gbw. Chab. Calyx five-cleft : Corolla tirt petals: Nectariferoui

ecahe flte9 at the bate of the germen : Capsule* lire.
Srac. Chab. Leaves tub-ovate, adnate, senile, gibbooi, each alternate

ooe rather erect : CmmetxiAd,

DESCRIPTION.

A small plant, not more than three inches high. Leaves
fleshy, minute, placed like the tiles of a house. Flowers nu-
merous, rather conspicuous, of a yellow colour:

HISTORY.
A British plant growing on houses, walls, and gravelly banks.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
Being highly acrid and stimulant, a decoction has been found
*f the greatest use in violent scorbutic humours : the process is
to boil a handful in eight pints of beer till reduced to four, and
to take three or four ounces every other morning, or to use
the same in milk : the same is likewise used in dropsy and in
cancer with reported success*

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LAUREL-LEAVED CANELLA.

CAN ELLA ALBA.

Class XI. Dodecandria. Order I. Monogynta.
Emewt. Gew. Char. Calyx tbree-lobed : Petals five : Anthers sixtee ■,
attached to the pitcher-like nectary.

DESCRIPTION.
This tree rises fifty feet in height, branching only at the top.
Lea?es on short footstalks, alternate, oblong, very obtuse, en-
tire, and thick. Flowers small, dividing in clusters, of a violet
colour.

HISTORY.

This is a tall tree, which is very common in Jamaica, and
other West India islands.

The canella is the interior bark, freed from the epidermis,
which is thin and rough; and dried in the shade. There aro

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LAtJREL'LEAVBD CANELLA. 465

two sorts of canella in the shops, differing from each other in
the length and thickness of the quills : they are both the bark of
the same tree, the thicker being taken from the trunk, and the
thinner from the branches.

It was introduced into Europe, according to Clusius, in 1605,
and is brought to us rolled up in long quills, or flat pieces,
thicker than cinnamon, and both outwardly and inwardly of
a whitish colour, lightly inclining to yellow. It is a warm pun-
gent aromatic, and in distillation with water it yields a large
proportion of a very active volatile oil, of a yellow, or rather
reddish colour, and of a sweet odour approaching to that of
cinnamon. It must not be confounded with the bark of the'
Wintera aromatica.

MEDICAL USE.

Canella alba is sometimes employed, from ten to fifteen grains;
where a warm stimulant to the stomach is necessary. In Ame-
rica it is considered to be a powerful antiscorbutic. It is alfeJ
added as a corrigent to other medicines .

2tf

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COMMON ASARABACCA.

ASARUM EUROPIUM.

Class XI. Dodecandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Eshcnt. Gsn. Chaw. Calyx three- or four-cleft, sitting upon theger-

men : Corolla none : Capsule coriaceous, coronate.
Spec. Char. Leaves reniform, obtuse, bifurcate.

DESCRIPTION.

I he leaves rise immediately from the root, and divide from one
stem in pairs : the flower proceeds from betwixt these leaves.
The flowers are large, purple, and bell-shaped.

HISTORY.

This is a perennial plant, which is a .native of some places of
England, although the dried roots are generally brought from the
Levant. It grows in moist and shady situations. It produces
only two leaves, which are reniform and very obtuse. The root
is fibrous, of a gray. brown colour externally, but white within.
Both the roots and leaves have a nauseous, bitter, acrimonious,
hot taste ; their smell is strong, and not very disagreeable.

In its analysis it is said by Neumann to agree with ipeca-

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COMMON ASARABACCA, 467

cuanhaj; bat it seems to contain, besides its odorous principle,
which Is probably camphor, a portion of the same acrid prin-
ciple which has been noticed when speaking of arum. Upon
this its virtues depend; and as this principle is volatile, we find •
accordingly that asarabacca loses much of its activity by decoc-
tion and long keeping.

MEDICAL USE.

Given in substance, from half a drachm to a drachm, it eva-
cuates powerfully both upwards and downwards. It is said that
alcoholic tinctures possess both the emetic and cathartic virtues
of the plant; that the extract obtained by inspissating these tine-
tares acts only by vomiting, and with great mildness; that an
infusion in water proves- cathartic, rarely emetic ; that aqueous
decoctions made by long boiling, and the watery extract, have
no purgative or emetic quality, but prove good diaphoretics,
diuretics, and emmenagogues.

The principal use of this plant among us is a sternutatory.
The root of asarum is perhaps the strongest of all the vegetable
errhines, White hellebore itself not excepted. Snuffed up the
nose, in the quantity of a grain or two, it occasions a large
evacuation of mucus, and raises a plentiful spitting.' The leaves
are considerably milder, and may be used to the quantity of
three, four, or five grains. Geoffiroy relates, that after snuffing
up a dose of this errhine at night, he has frequently observed
the discharge from the nose to continue for three days together;
and that he has known a paralysis of the mouth and tongue
cured by one dose. He recommends this medicine in stubborn
disorders of the head, proceeding from viscid tenacious matter,
in palsies, and in soporific distempers.

PREPARATION.

Compound Powder or Asarabacca. (Pulvis Asari Com-
posite. L.)
Take of asarabacca,
— — sweet marjoram,
■ Syrian herb-mastich,

■ ' lavender, of each, dried, one ounce :
Reduce them together to powder, which is to be kept in a closed
phial.

% H *

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469 COMMON Af AHAB.ACCA.

Edio.

Take of die leaves of asarabacca, three parts ;

... the leaves of marjoram,

■ flowers of lavender, of each one part :

Rob them together to powder*

Dab.

Take of dried leaves of asarabacca, one ounce ;

■ lavender flowers, two drachms :

Powder them, and keep them in a phial well closed.

These are agreeable and efficacious errhines, and superior to
most of those usually sold under the name of herb snaf. They
are often employed with great advantage m cases of obstinate
headaeh, and of ophthalmias resisting other modes of care.
Taken under the form of 6nuff, to the extent of five or sis
grains, at bed^time, they wHl operate the succeeding day as a
powerful errhine, inducing frequent sneering, and likewise a
copious discharge from the nose. It is, however, necessary,
during their operation, to avoid exposure to cold.

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SOAPWORT.

SAPONARJA OFFICINALIS.

Oau X. Decandria. Order II. Digynia.
Essert. Gbm. Chak. Calyx one -leafed, naked: Pe talt five, vnguiculate :

Capsule oblong, one-celled.
Spec. Chak. Gifyr cylindrical : Troves ovato-lanceolale.

DESCRIPTION.

1 his plant rises a foot in height. Leaves entire, pointed, fur.

nished with three ribs. Flowers numerous, terminal, large, of

a pale pink colour.

HISTORY.

Native of England, affects moist situations, and flowers in
July and August. ' A decoction of the root of this plant pro.
duces a saponaceous froth, but more so the leaves, insomuch that
these have been used by country people as a substitute for soap,
and with this advantage, that this quality is not injured by acids.
MEDICAL VIRTUE.

The great Boerhaave highly extols the use of this plant in
jaundice and all obstructions of the liver. Septalius affirms that
the decoction cures the venereal disease, and answers better than
the sarsaparilla ; and this opinion has been supported by Stahl,
and other eminent physicians.

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COMMON AGRIMONY.

Class XI. Dodecandria. Order I. Digynia.
Emswt. Gkv. Chab. Calyx fire-toothed : Petals flte : Seeds two, at tke

bottom of the calyx.
Spec. Char. CauHne leaves pinnate, with an odd one petioled: Fruit

hispid.

DESCRIPTION.
This plant rises to two or three feet in height. Leaves alter-
nate, interruptedly pinnate, composed of five or six pairs, with
an odd one at the end. The large pinnae are commonly sessile,
opposite, ovate, deeply serrate, rough. The flowers are yellow,
on long spikes, not very conspicuous.
HI8TORY.
It is common in fields and hedges, and shady places, in Eng-
land; and flowers in June and July.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
It is a mild astringent and corroborant, and is therefore gireo
for a lax tone of the bowels and solids. For cutaneous diseases
it hat obtained much reputation. It is given in the form of tta
twice a day.

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ALMOND TREE.

AMYGDALUS COMMUNIS.

'Clan XII. Icosandria. Order I. Monogvnia.

EssEirr. Gen. Char. Catyx five-cleft, beneath: Petals five: Drupe per-
forated in the not with pores.

Spec. Cha*. Leavtt minutely serrated, with the base beset with glands:
Flowers in pairs, sesbile.

DESCRIPTION.
This tree rises twelve or more feet, and early in spring dis-
plays its pale pink flowers, which are placed in pairs upon its
branches; afterwards appear the leaves, which are elliptic, nar-
row, pointed at the end, minutely sawed, standing upon short

footstalks.

HISTORY.

The almond tree nearly resembles the peach. It originally
came from Syria and Barbary, but is now much cultivated in the
south of Europe, There is no apparent difference betwixt the

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478 ALMOVD TREE,

trees which produce the sweet and bitter almonds, and icrj Utde
betwixt the kernels themselves ; and it is said that the same tree
has, py a difference in culture, afforded both.

The almond is a flatfish kernel, of a white colour, and of a
soft sweet taste, or a disagreeable bitter one. The skins of
both sorts are thin, brownish, unpleasant, and covered with an
acrid powdery substance. They are very apt to become rancid
on keeping, and to be preyed on by insects, which eat out the
internal part, leaving the almond to appearance entire. To
these circumstances regard ought to be had in the choice of
them.

Sweet almonds are of greater use in food than as medicine,
but they are reckoned to afford little nourishment ; and when
eaten in substance are not easy of digestion, unless thoroughly
comminuted. They are supposed, on account of their unctuous
quality, to obtund acrimonious juices in the prima vub : peeled
sweet almonds, eaten six or eight at a time, sometimes give
present relief in the heartburn.

Bitter almonds have been found poisonous to dogs and some
other animals ; and a water distilled from them, when made of
a certain degree of strength, has had the same effects. Never*
theless, when eaten, they appear innocent to most men, and
are every day used in cookery, on account of their agreeable §a*
vour ; but there are some habits in which the smallest quantity
produces urticaria, and other unpleasant symptoms. The simi-
larity of the smell induced Mr. Schrader to suppose that bitter
almonds contained prussic acid, and he verified his conjecture by
analysis. Since that time it has been found that this acid exists,
but in a particular state, in all the bitter poisonous vegetables,
and that in its pure state it is poisonous.

Both sorts of almonds yield, on expression, a large quantity
af oil, which separates likewise upon boiling the almonds in
water, and is gradually collected on the surface.

The oils obtained by expression from both sorts of almonds
are in their sensible qualities the same* They should be perfectly
free from smell and taste, and possess the other properties of
fixed oils.

MEDICAL USE.

The general virtues of these oils are, to blunt acrimonious
humours, and to soften and relax the solids : hence their use in-
ternally in tickling coughs, heat of urine, pains and jnflsmuu-

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ALMOND TREE. 473

tions ; and externally, in tension and rigidity of particular parts*
On triturating almonds with water, the oil and water unite to*
gether, by the mediation of the amylaceous matter of the kernel,
and form an unctuous milky liquor, called an emulsion, which
participates in some degree of its emollient virtue, but have this
advantage above the pure oil, that they may be given in acute or
inflammatory disorders, without danger of the 411 effects which •
the oil might sometimes produce; since emulsions do not turn,
rancid or acrimonious by heat, as all the oils of this kind in a
little time do., As the bitter almond imparts its peculiar taste
when treated in this way, the sweet almonds alone are employed
in making emulsions.

Several Unctuous and resinous substances, of themselves not
miscible with water, may, by trituration with almonds, be easily
mixed with it into the form of an emulsion ; and are thus ex-
cellently fitted for medicinal use. In this form camphor, and
the resinous purgatives, may be commodiously taken.

It has been a common practice to dissolve from half an ounce
to an ounce, or more, of gum arabic in the water used for
making the emulsions ; and to make patients drink freely of
them, while blisters are applied to the body, in order to prevent
strangury ; and to order them to be used in cases of gravel, and
of inflammation of the bladder or urethra ; and in heat of urine
from virulent gonorrhoea or other causes.

Camphor, resin of jalap, and other resinous substances, by
being triturated with almonds, become miscible with water, and
more mild and pleasant than they were before ; and therefore
they are frequently ordered to be rubbed with them, and made
up into pills or boluses, with the addition of some conserve or
gnm arabic mucilage ; or they are incorporated with watery li-
quors into the form of an emulsion.

Formerly the seeds of the lettuce, of the cucumber, of the
white poppy, and of a number of other plants, were employed
for making emulsions ; but now in this country the sweet aU
monds supply the place of all the rest

The bitter almonds are not so much used as they were for*
merly, because they have been found to destroy some sorts of
animals .- this effect was related by the ancients, but believed to
be fictitious, because when eaten by men they appear to be in*
nocent, and to produce no deleterious effects. However, the
facts related by Wepfer in his Treatise de Cicala Aquatics^

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474 ALMOND TREE.

having been confirmed by later experiments ; and it baring been
discovered that a water drawn from them had deleterious effects,
and that the distilled water from the lauro-cerasus leaves, which
hare a bitter taste resembling that of bitter almonds, was still
more poisonous, it raised a suspicion of the wholesomeness of
those bitter substances, and has made physicians more cautious
of using them, though tbey have been employed for making
orgeate aod other liqueurs, without producing any bad effects.

PREPARATIONS.

Oil of Almonds.

Those who prepare large quantities of the oil of almonds
blanch them by steeping them in very hot water, which causes
their epidermis to swell and separate easily. After peeling them,
they dry them in a stove, then grind them in a mill like a coffee-
mill, and, lastly, express the oil from the paste, enclosed in a
hempen bag. By blanching the almonds, the paste which re-
mains within the bag is sold with greater advantage to the per-
fumers, and the oil obtained is perfectly colourless. But the
heat employed disposes J|b oil to become rancid, and the colour
the oil acquires from the epidermis does not injure its qualities.
For pharmaceutical use, therefore, the almonds should not be
blanched, but merely rubbed in a piece of coarse linen, to sepa-
rate, as much as possible, the brown powder, adhering to the epi-
dermis. Sixteen ounces of sweet almonds commonly give Are
ounces and a half of oil. Bitter almonds afford the same pro-
portion, but the oil has a pleasant bitter taste.

Expressed Oil of Almonds. (Oleum Expressum. E.)

Take of fresh almonds,' any quantity:
After haring bruised them in a stone mortar, put them into a
hempen bag, and express the oil, without heat

Lond.
Pound fresh almonds, either sweet or bitter, in a mortar, then
press out the oil in a cold press.

Dub.
Bruise fresh almonds in a mortar, and express the oil in a
press, without heat

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ALMOND. TUB. 475

Almond Emulsion. (Emulsio Amygdalae Communis. E.)

Take of sweet almonds, one ounce ;

water, two pounds and a half:

Beat diligently the blanched almonds in a stone mortar, gradu-
ally pouring on them the water ; then strain the liquor.

Almond Milk. (Lac Amygdalae. L. D.)

Take of sweet almonds, blanched, an ounce and a half ;
■ double refined sugar, half an ounee ;

distilled water, two pints (two pints and a half, D.):

Beat the almonds with the sugar ; then rubbing them together,
add by degrees the water, and strain the liquor. Almost aoy
quantity may be taken as a frequent drink to soften coughs, and
nourish the system ; also to assuage urinary disorders.

Arabic Emulsion. (Emulsio Arabica. D.)

Take of gnm arabic, in powder, two drachms ;

sweet almonds, blanched,

■ double refined sugar, each half a drachm ;

decoction of barley, one pint ;

Dissolve the gum in the warm decoction ; and when it is almost
cold, pour it upon the almonds, previously well beaten with the
sugar, and at the same time triturate them together, so as to form
an emulsion, and then filter.

All these may be considered as possessing nearly the same
qualities* They are merely mechanical suspensions of oil of
almonds in watery fluids, by means either of the mucilage with
which it is naturally combined in the almonds by itself, or as-
sisted by the addition of gum arabic and sugar. Therefore, on
standing for some days, the oily matter separates and rises to the
top, not in a , pure form, but like thick cream. By heat the
same decomposition is immediately effected.

Great care should be taken that the almonds hare not become
rancid by keeping; which not only renders the emulsion extremely
unpleasant, a circumstance of great consequence in a medicine
that requires to be taken in large quantities, but likewise gives
it injurious qualities.

The almonds are blanched by infusing them in boiling water,
and peeling them. The success of the preparation depends upon
beating the almonds to a smooth pulp, and triturating them with.

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475 ALMOND TREK.

each portion of the watery fluid, so as toibrm an uniform mix.
tare before another portion be added.

CULINARY PREPARATIONS.
Almond Tarts.

Blanch and beat fine some almonds, with a little white wine
and some sugar (a pound of sugar to a pound of almonds), grated
bread, nutmeg, cream, and the juice of spinach to colour the
almonds. Bake it in a gentle oven ; and when done thicken
with candied orange or citron.

Green Almond Tarts.
Pull the almonds from the tree before they shell, scrape off
the down, and put them into a pan with cold spring water, then
pat them into a skillet with more spring water, set it on a slow
fire, and let it remain till it simmers. Change the water twice,
and let them remain in the last till tender. Then take them out
and dry them well in a cloth. Make a syrup with double refined
sugar, put them into it, and let them simmer. Do the same the
next day, pnt them into a stone jar, and cover them very close;
for if the least air comes to them they will tarn black. The
yellower they are before they are taken out of the water, the
greener they will be after they are done. Pat them into your
crust, cover them with syrup, lay on the lid, and bake them m
a moderate oven.

PRESCRIPTIONS.

$• 1. Take of oil of almonds ... drachms 6,
■ milk of almonds - - • ounces, * 5,

■ " ' ■ rose water * - « • drachms %

■ gum arabic,

1 ■ ■ purified sugar, equal parts, drachms 2 :
Let these be well rubbed together, and take two table-spoon-
fuls four times a day, and a tea~spoonfal upon coughing. Thk
is far preferable to the common white emulsions formed by an
alkali, which uniting with the oil produces a kind of soap, which
readily mingling with water, forms the white appearance we ob-
serve, and is commonly disgusting to patients, and unpleasant ia
the stomach ; whereas this suits every palate, and removes that
' tickling in die throat so very distressing to patients.

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ALMOND THEE. 477

Respecting *e*P» the learned and ingenious editor of the
Edinburgh New Dispensatory says: The detergent property of
soap, or the power it possesses of rendering oily and resinous
substances miscible with water, has given rise to very erroneous
notions of its medical virtues. It was supposed to render such
substances more readily soluble in the juices of the stomach, and
in the fluids of the body, and to be welL fitted for dissolving such
oily or unctuous matters as it may meet with in the body, atte-
nuating viscid juices, opening obstructions of the viscera, and de-
terging all the vessels it passes through. It has likewise been sup-
posed a powerful menstruum for the urinary calculus ; and a
solution of soap in lime water has been considered as one of the
strongest solvents that can be taken with safety into the sto-
mach ; for the virtue of this composition has been thought con-
siderably greater than the aggregate of the dissolving powers of
the soap and lime water when unmixed.

How erroneous these ideas are, appears evidently, when we
recollect the very easy decomposition of soap, which renders it
perfectly impossible that it should enter the circulating system,
or indeed come into contact with the fluids even of the mouth,
without being decomposed. As to the solution of soap in lime
water, we may observe that it is only a clumsy way of exhibit,
ing a solution of soda ; for the soap is decomposed, an insoluble
soap of lime is formed, and the soda remains in solution. The
internal use of soap should therefore be confined, in our opi-
nion, to the giving form to other substances which are not de-
composed by it, and to the decomposing metallic poisons when
they have been taken into the stomach. For this last purpose,
a teacupful of a solution of soap, in four times its weight of
water, may be drunk every three or four minutes, until a suf-
ficient quantity be taken.

ft. % Take of milk of almonds - - ounce 1,
syrup of Tolu - - - drachms 2,

■ ■ rose water . . . • drachms 2,

■ tincture of squills • drops 16 :

Make into a draught Four of these draughts are to be taken
daring the day. An admirable remedy in colds, and also in con-
smmptions, as well as in asthma.

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COMMON PEACH TREE.

AMYGDALUS PERSICA.

Class- Xll. Icosandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Euent. Gen. Char. Same as the last.
Spec. Char. All the serra lures of the Leaves acute : Flowers single, sessile.

DESCRIPTION.

1 he peach tree is trained against walls and palings, and extends
itself far. Its leaves are narrow, pointed, acutely serrate, on
footstalks, and grow alternate. Flowers are light blush red.
Stamina conspicuous, inserted into the calyx.

HISTORY.
Native of Persia, and was known in England in 1569. The
nectarine is only a variety of the peach.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
The fruit is cooling and nutritious, and can seldom be eaten
to injure. 'The flowers and leaves have been made into tea, and
given in the morning as a purge against worms, and with ma-
nifest success. It may be prudent to join some rhubarb with it

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PIMENTO, or JAMAICA PEPPER.
ALLSPICE.

MYRTUS PIMENTA.

Class XII. Icosandria. Order I. Monogynla.
Emcnt. Gem. Char. Calyx five-cleft, above : Petals five : Berry two- or

three -seeded.
Spec. Char. Flowers panicled, trichotomous : Leaves oblong-lanceolate.

DESCRIPTION.

1 uis species of myrtle grows to thirty feet in height. The
leaves are four inches in length, veined, pointed, of a bright
green. The flowers grow upon stalks, terminating the branches,
and dividing into three forks ; at the end of each is a flower ;
also one at the bifurcation, or angle.

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480 *1ME*T0, JAMAICA PEPPER, OR ALLSPICE.

HISTORY.

This beautiful tree is a natire of Jamaica, and grows in iD
the woodlands on the north side. Soon after the trees haw
blossomed, the berries become fit for gathering j the fruit not
being suffered to ripen, as in that state it is moist and glutinous,
and therefore difficult to cure, and when dried becomes black
and tasteless. The berries are dried by spreading them on a
terrace, exposed to the sun for about seven days, during which
time they gradually lose their green colour, and become of a
reddish-brown.

The smell of this spice resembles a mixture of cinnamon,
cloves, and nutmegs ; its taste approaches to that of cloves, or
a mixture of the three foregoing; whence it has received tbt
name of allspice.

Neumann ascertained that its flavour resides entirely in a vo-
latile oil heavier than water, and its pungency in a resin or a
substance soluble in alcohol and insoluble in water. From 480
parts he got ISO watery extract, 30 volatile oil, and 20 alcoholic
extract ; and inversely, 66 alcoholic, and 100 watery.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

Pimento is a warm aromatic stimulant, and is much used u
a condiment in dressing food. As a medicine, it may be ad?an«
tageously substituted for the more costly spices, especially in
hospital practice.

PREPARATIONS.
Allspice Water. (Aqua Pimento.)

Take of allspice, bruised, half a pound, water sufficient to
prevent empyreuma :
Macerate for f our-and-t wen ty hours, and draw off one gallon.

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POMEGRANATE TREE.

PUNICA GRANATUM.

Class XII. Icosandria. Order I, Mooogynta.
E»ewt, Gen. Char. Calyx five-cleft, above; />etob five: Pome many-

called, many -seeded.
Spec. Char, £*<wef lanceolate i Sfem arboreous.

DESCRIPTION.

X his is a low tree, or rather shrub. Its leaves are oblong,

pointed, placed upon short footstalks. The flowers are large,

of a bright scarlet. The fruit is the size of an orange, aud

crowned with the calyx.

HISTORY.
This tree grows wild in Italy and other eon n tries in the south
of Europe. It is sometimes met with in our gardens ; but the
fruit, for which it is chiefly valued, rarely comes to perfection.

MEDICAL VIRTUE,
Thb fruit has the general qualities of the other sweet summer
fruits, allaying heat, quenching thirst, and gently loosening the
bel|y. The rind is a strong astringent, striking a permanent blue
with sulphate of iron, and as such ia occasionally made use 6L
The flowers are of an elegant red colour, in appearance resem.
bling a dried red rose. ' Their taste is bitterish and astringent.
They are recommended in diarrhoeas, dysenteries, and other case*
where astringent medicines are proper.

% i

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SLOE TREE.

PRUNUS SPINOSA.

Clmsi til. Uotaaarta. Order I. Moaogvoia.
Emewt. Gem. Cbae. Ci/jx fire* deft, beneath t P«tebn>e: Drype ukmek

with prominent sutnref .
Spec. Cn Am. Peduncles solitary: Leaves lanceolate, uaooth: Brands*

spiny.

DESCRIPTION.

1 mi if a shrub which rises eight or ten feet. Leaves are oval,
minutely serrated, standing upon short footstalks. The flowers
are white, and tolerably conspicuous. The fruit is of a dark
black, but covered with a bright blue exudation.
HISTORY.
The sloe grows wild in Britain. It flowers in March and
April. The fruit has a very astringent sourish taste. It con-
tains malic acid. The inspissated juice of the unripe fruit is very
astringent, and b called Acacia Germanka.

MEDICAL U8E.
An infusion of a handful of the flowers is a safe and easy
purge. The powdered bark will sometimes cure agues.

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SLOB TUB. 483

PREPARATION.
CovtiBTX ov Slosi. (Conservm Pnmi Sihrestrii. L.)

Put the aloe* in water uprtk tie fire, that they may soften,
taking care that they be not ktofem; then take them out of the
water, press out the pulp, and mix it with three times its' weight
oi double refined sugar into a cm userre.

This preparation is a gentle astringent, and may be giren as
such in the dose of two or three draekms. It is used also for a
gargle with considerable adraat^ge, especially where the utula
it found to be relaxed.

iii

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COMMON PRUNE, or PLUM TREE.

PRUNUS DOMESTICA.

Class XII. Icosandria. Order I, Monogyn'nu
Essnrr. Gen. Char. The same as the last.

Spbc. Char. Peduncles sobsolitary : Leaves laaceolate-ovmte, coarolnta:
Branches unarmed.

DESCRIPTION.

1 Hit species rises higher than the last, is without thorns ; the
leares are oral, slightly indented at the edges, pointed, and stand
upon short footstalks.

HISTORY.
This tree is found wild in hedges in England, but has probably
originated from the stones of the cultivated kinds being dropped
there by accident. It flowers in April. Great quantities of the
dried fruit are imported from the continent, of which the French
prunes are reckoned the best.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.
They contain much mucilaginous and saccharine matter, and
their medical effects are, to abate heat, and gently loosen the

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PLUK TREE. 485

lei! j, which they perform by Imbricating the passages, and
softening the excrement. They are of considerable service in
costiveness, accompanied with heat or irritation, which the more
stimulating cathartics would tend to aggravate : where prunes
are not of themselves sufficient, their action may be promoted
by joining with them a little rhubarb or the like, to which may
be added some carminative ingredient, to prevent their occasion*
ing flatulency. It enters properly into the composition well
known by the name of lenitive electuary; and even taken alone
gently, in some constitutions, opens the body. They are stewed.
The French prunes are the best.

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■

CHERRY LAUREL

PRUNUS LAURO.CERASUS.

Clats XII. Icoaaadrje. <M*r I. M oaegyaia.
Ef*B*T. Gair . CaAa. The nne as the left.

9rac. Cbak. FUwers \n racemes: Leaves evergreea, with two sjlanafl at
the back. _

DESCRIPTION.

This is a throb rising sometimes very high. The. leaves are
obovate, Want, somewhat serrate, of a shining green, placed
alternate opon strong short footstalks. The flowers are on short
peduncles, in spikes, which proceed from the ale of the leaves.
The calyx \s firm, divided into fife segments. The corolla if
composed of five small petals.

HISTORY.
It is native of the Levant, and has been long cultivated in
England; for its polished evergreen leaves add modi to the.
beauty of our shrubberies.

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CHERRY LAUREL. 48?

MBDICAL VIRTUES.
Since Dr. Madden communicated to the Royal Society an ac-
count of the deadly effects of the simple distilled water from the
lanro-cerasus, many experiments have been made, here ip Eng-
land, to prove and confirm the truth of the same ; but I do not
know of any attempts that hare been made towards discovering
what influence this water, or the leaves from whence it is di.
stilled, would have on animal bodies, if exhibited in small doses,
and continued so for some time. Now as this, in my humble
opinion, is the only way of investigating the useful properties of
such plants whose modus of action we are unacquainted with, I
hope the following experiments will be acceptable ; for, let them
be ever so simple, they may lead us to greater discoveries, and
without doubt one of the roost considerable services we can do
to mankind, is to be diligent in making a variety of experiments,
and collecting observations ; and when we have procured a num-
ber of these, it wifl be allowable to reason upon, and deduce
proper inferences from them.

To find out the virtues of plants, says Dr. Langrish, has ever
been reckoned the most commendable undertaking, and nothing
is more certain than that the likeliest means to discover the effi-
cacy of such as are not as yet used in physic, is to have recourse
to proper experiments with them upon brutes ; for though some
tilings may be hurtful to man that are not so to other animals,
and vice versa, yety as the greatest number of medicines affect
both equally, the exhibition of them to brutes will afford good
opportunities for observing their effects. Doubtless, says the
Illustrious Boyle, we trample upon many things that, did we
know their uses, might serve the noblest ends. We despise many
common plants of extraordinary efficacy for want of taking pains
to discover their virtnes ; and though some may be deleterious
or poisonous in themselves, or in large doses, yet it b probable
that art may discover ways and means to reduce such drugs into
useful medicines.

I am of opinion we have simples of our own growth capable
of curing the most formidable diseases, did we but understand
their efficacy, and the best manner of applying them ; and I.
doubt not bat a further acquaintance with experimental philo- .
sopoy will hereafter suggest ways and means of discovering their
virtues, and of making most noble medicines from such plants
which are little thought of at present, at least for such uses.

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488 CttEREY LAUREL*

I therefore, with all humility, beg lcare to offer the following
experiments to the consideration of the learned.

Experiment I.

To an oid cast- off horse, blind, and troubled with the poll
evil, I gave a pint (wine measure) of laurel water in the
morning fasting, he having been tied up to an empty rack all
night for that purpose.

Just before I gave it hint I took seven ounces a drachm and
a scruple of blood from the jugular vein, which was extremely
viscid and foul) looking at first like coarse grease, and after it
had stood some time it had a coat upon it above an inch thick,
tough and horny, rather resembling one part of brawn than buff
leather. The gore was of a deep black* The serum was pel-
lucid, but no more in quantity than six drachms.

The pulse, before he took the laurel water*, beat 34 strokes
in a minute ; and indeed they were not so much accelerated by
the dose as I expected, they never exceeding 45, that day. The
only visible effect was stopping the humour that flowed from his
poll ; which, though it ran in an extraordinary manner before he
took the laurel water, was quite suppressed in the evening.
About two hours after he had taken his dose, I gave him some
oats, which he ate greedily, and continued perfectly well all
night.

The next morning I let seven ounces and a drachm of blood,
which, after it had stood twenty-four hours, as the other did>
separated an ounce and two scruples of clear, straw-coloured
serum. The crassamentum was something improved in its co-
lour, and the horny coat at the top of it was not quite three
quarters of ao inch thick.

The poll evil was quite shut up all this day ; and therefore that
I might know how long it would remain so, I desisted from
giving any more laurel water for three days. The next morning
the humour began to flow again, though not so much as before ^

* It was prepared as follows : Having procured a peck of fresh taorel
leaves, says Dr. Langrish, 1 weighed them very exactly, lest I might he
deceived by dfieteot measure* in firture trials ; and Accordingly I found
their weight to be two pounds one ounce and a half mvoirdnpots. To these
I put three gallons of spring water, and distilled off, in a common alembic,
two quart*, which wero mixed togetlicr*

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CHEEftY LAUREN 489

but on the third day there seemed to be- as great a discharge as

#ver. v

Experiment IL

A fine fresh young horse being seized with the glanders, was
turned irito a salt marsh, and neglected till the distemper ar-
rived at its greatest height, or what the farriers call the chine
glanders, which among them is deemed incurable* (

The matter which was discharged from bis nose was very
viscid, yellow, and extremely offensive. His blood was exceed*
ing glutinous and foul, and had a buff coat upon it more than
half an inch thick. The cohesion of the crassamentum was sb %
strong as to resist the weight of a column of mercury, in a glass*
tube, with an obtuse point about the size of a pea, 13£ inches
high, before the point of the tube cut through. The bore of
the tube was one- third of an inch diameter. Eight ounces of
this blood, which was taken from the jugular vein, separated,
after, standing twenty-four hours, no more than two drachms
ten grains of yellow serum.

July 28, 1754. I gave to this horse six ounces of laurel water
diluted with half a pint of spring water, and repeated it erery
morning for eight days.

Aug. 5. I increased the dose to eight ounces, and continued
it for eight days more.

The same day eight ounces of blood afforded one ounce tw6
clrachms of serum, not quite so yellow as before. The buff coat
was three-eighths of an inch thick. The cohesioo very little
altered.

Aug. 13. The dose was increased to twelve ounces, and Te*
pcated every morning for eight days.

The same day eight ounces of blood separated one ounce and
a half of good-coloured serum. The buff coat was now not
above a quarter of an inch thick, and gave way to the weight of
ten inches of mercury. J

Aug. 21. The dose was increased to a pint, wine measure,
aud given every morning for eight daysj mixed with a quart of
spring water.

The same day eight ounces of blood separated one ounce four
drachms and a half of dark-coloured serum. There was now
very little or no appearance of a buff coat, only here and there
a blueish speck, or film. Ife cohesion was equal to seren inches
and a qaarter of mercury.

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460 4M&BY LAUML.

Aug. 90. Bight ounces of blood separate! one ounce mi
drachms of dark-coloured serum. The gore had not the least
film upon it, and was now grown so tender, that a column of
mercury four inches high oat through it.

During the whole time the horse appeared very brisk aai
well, and his appetite. continued good. But as to his distemper,
the running at the nose increased in quantity, but the matter
was altered into a white, well-digested pus, wkhont any ofleo-
sire smell, as at first.

The quantity of laurel water which was taken in the whole
i was 496 ounces, or £1 pints.

Experiment III.

The following experiments were made to show that even out
of the body the laurel water has great power over the blood.

To six ounces of blood extracted from a young man violently
afflicted with an inflammatory rheumatism, I put one ounce of
laurel water, which altered the crassamentum, rendering it soft
and tender, without a speck of size upon it. The serum was
of a light red, like Burgundy wine, and, after standing 24 hours,
weighed exactly two ounces.

Six ounces more of the same blood, being saved in another
porringer, by itself, appeared very foul and sixy, with a thick)
tough buff coat upon it. The serum was of a bright yellow,
and weighed two ounces one drachm and ten grains.

tzSptftutcnt IV.

Sixteen ounces of blood being drawn from a woman on the
third day of a pleuritic fever, I put one ounce of warm laurel
water into a bason which received about one-half of it The
next day I found the blood which was mixed with the laurel
water of a bright colour, the coagulum exceeding tender, the
serum of a pale red, and in a small quantity.

The other parcel of blood had a buff coat upon it at least one-
third of an inch thick ; the grumous part looked very foul and
black ; the serum was of a straw colour, and much more in
quantity than what was in the other porringer. But this patient
being in the country, I had not an opportunity of examining
into the exact proportions.

%*p*rimcnt\.
Half an ounce of laurel water being mixed with these <

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CHIRET LAUBEl, 491

at Mood, unit ran foam the arm of a chHd ton yean old, and
troubled with the St Anthony's ire, it neeearrad a beautiful
colour, and let go one ounce three dmohms of dark-coloured

Whereat thiee oaneet six drachms and fifty grains of the same
Mood, an another cap, separated one ounce a drachm and a'
aoraale .of straw-coloured serum. The fibrous part had a coat
<me*ixth of an inch thick, exactly resembling melted suet

I could add a great many more experiments of this kind, bat
as they all exhibited the same phamomena it would be useless.
I shall thesefore only observe, that from these experiments It si
evidently demonstrated that laurel water has a power of making
greet alterations in the blood.

The kemeMike flavour which these leaves impart being go-'
Xttrally esteemed grateful, has sometimes caused them to be em-
ployed for culinary purposes, and especially in custards, pud.
dings, blancmange, asc ; and as the proportion of this sapid
matter of the leaf to the quantity of the milk is commonly in-
considerable, bad effects hare seldom ensued. But as the poi-
sonous quality of this laurel is now indubitably proved, the
public ought to be cautioned against its internal use.

The following communication to the Royal Society, by Dr.
Madden of Dublin, contains the first and principal proofs of die
sUeterioas effisots of this vegetable upon mankind :-— " A very
fltrtraordinary accident that fell out here some months ago, has
discovered to us a most dangerous poison, which was never be-
fore known to be so, though it has been in frequent use among
ua. The thing I mean is a simple water, distilled from the leaves
of the iauro-cmum. The water is at first of a milky colour,
tout the oil which comes over the helm with it, being in a good
measure separated from the phlegm, by passing it through a
Jlaaaei bag, it becomes as clear as common water. It has the
umell of bitter almond or peach kernel, and has been for many
years in frequent use among our housewives and cooks, to give
that agreeable flavour to their creams and puddings. It has also
•been much in use among onr drinkers of drams; and the pro-
portion they generally use it in, has been one part of laurel water
to four of brandy. Nor has this practice, however frequent,
truer bean attended with any apparent ill consequences, till some
tee in the month of September IT**, when it happened that
one Martha Bopse, a servant, who lived with a person that soM

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403 CHfcRJtY LAUREL.

great quantities of this water, got a battle of it from her mistress,
and gave it to her mother, Ana Boyse,' as a very rich cordial.
Ana Boys* made a promt of it to Frances Eaton, her states,
who was a shopkeeper in town, and who she thought night
oblige her customers With it, Accordingly, in a few days, she
gate about two ounces of the water to a woman called Marjr
Wbaley, who drank about two-thirds of what was filled out,
and went away. Francos Eaton drank the rest In a quarter
of an hour after Mary Whaley had drank the water (as I am
informed) she coin plained of a violent disorder in her stomach,
soon after lost her speech, and died in about an hour,' without
vomiting or purging, or any convulsion.
" The shopkeeper, Frances Eaton, sent word to her sister,
' Ann Boyie, of what had happened, who came to her upon the
message, and affirmed that it was not possible the cordial (as
she called it) could have occasioned the death of the woman ;
and to convince her of it, she filled out about three spoonfuls,
and drank it She continued talking with Frances Eaton about
two minutes longer, and was so earnest to persuade her of the
liquor's being inoffensive, that she drank two spoonfuls more,
but was hardly well seated in her chair when she died without
the least groan or convulsion. Frances Eaton, who, as before
observed^ had drank somewhat above a spoonful, found no dis-
order in her stomach or elsewhere ; bat to prevent any ill con.
sequence she took a vomit immediately, and has been- well ever
since."

Though this vegetable seems to have escaped the notice of
Stoerck, yet it is not without advocates for its medicinal use.
Linnaeus informs us, that in Switzerland it is commonly and suc-
cessfully used in pulmonary complaints. Langrish mentions its
efficacy in agues; and as Bergius found bitter almonds to have
this effect, we may from analogy conclude that this power of
the lauro-cerasus is well established. Baylies found that it pos-
sessed a remarkable power of diluting the blood, and from ex-
perience recommended it in all cases of disease supposed to pro-
ceed from too dense a state of that fluid ; adducing particular
instances of its efficacy in rheumatism, asthma, and in scirrhous
affections. Nor does this anthor seem to ha?e been. much afraid
of the deleterious quality of the lauro-oerasus, as he directs a
pound of its leaves to. be macerated in a. pine of wafer* of which
be gives a tea-spoonful three or four times a day.

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COMMON QUINCE TREE,

PYRUS CYDONIA.

Clots XII. Icesandria. Order V. Pentagyiua.
Ement. Geft. Char. Calyx five-cleft j Petals five : Pome beneath, five-
celled, many seeded.
Svbc. Chae. I*«d« entire ; Flower* solitary.

DESCRIPTION.
1 uis is rather a small tree. Leaves simple, oval, of <t dusky
green, underneath whitish, and standing upon short footstalks.
Flowers solitary, conspicuous, of a pale red and white, placed
in the axillae of the leaves. The calyx is cut into fire notched
segments.

HISTORY.

It was originally a native of Cydon, in Crete, and is now
common in gardens.

MEDICAL USE.

The seeds are successfully employed with liquorice root sliced
in diseases of the kidneys and the stone. Its seeds abound so
much with a mucilage, that one drachm will * render three pints

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494 COMMON QUINCE f RBB.

of water quite thick and ropy ; they may be used at the other
soft mucilaginous substances. We hate hi oar elsnuuauaary a
mucikgo smJMmm ij Jihssi iii> which ought not to be ordered m
a preparatftMi to be kept is He shops, because it loon grows
mouldy in keeping. This moctiagc, with conger to and syrup,
nwkes a good linctits for easing a tickling cough, and hat bean
nted where ofljr medicinet disagree*

OFFICINAL PREPARATION

Hdcilioi or Quince Snot, (ttucMago Sesahtnni CydonH

Ma& L>)

Take of quince-seeds, one dmchor;

■ distilled water, eight ounces, by measure:
Boil, with a slow fire, for tea minutes; then pass it through
linen.

This mucilage, though sufficiently agreeable, is perfectly tu-
periuous, especially as it is apt to spoil, from being mixed with
the other principles of the seeds soluble in water. It is, besides,
nerer so transparent at mucilage carefully prepared from gum
arabic, b not cheaper, and is unfit for many purposes, being
coagulated by acids.

CULINARY PREPARATION.

Quince Pudding.

Scald your quinces tender, pare them thin, scrape off the
pulp, mix with sugar ?ery tweet, and add a little ginger and
cinnamon. To a pint of cream you must put three or four yolks
of eggs, and stir it into your quinces till they are of a good
thickness. Batter your dish, pour it in, ami bake it

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sBi

llflfc*

RED OFFICINAL ROSE.

ROSA GALLICA.

Class XU. Icotandrla. Order V. Polygyaia.

Ens* t. Gafr. Cha*. Petals five : Calyx orceolate, five-cleft, ieshy, nar-
row at the oeck : Seeds many, hispid, affixed to the interior aidet of the
calyx.

S*ac. Cha*. Qermtns orate, hispid : S/cmJ and Petioles hispid-aculeate.

DESCRIPTION.

1 he petals of this rose, though large and spreading, are not
half so numerous as in the centifolia, and are of a deep crimson.

HISTORY.
Native of the south of Europe, now common in our gardens,
lowering in June and July.

PREPARATIONS.

Comsxrtb ot Roses. (Conserta Rosa Gallic*.)

This is made like other conserves, but from the rose buds; and
in this form, on account of the large proportion of tugar, onljr
substances of considerable activity can be taken with advantage

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496 BED OFFICINAL E08E.

as medicines. And, indeed, conserves are at present considered
chiefly as auxiliaries to medicines of greater efficacy, or as inter,
mediums for joining them together. They are very convenient
for reducing into boluses or pills the more ponderous powders,
as submuriate of mercury, the oxides of iron, and other mineml
preparations ; which, with liquid, or less consistent matters, as
syrups, will not cohere.

Infusion of Roses. (Infusum Rosae Gallic©. E.)
Take of the petals of red roses, dried, one ounce ;

■ boiling water, fire pounds ;

■ sulphuric acid, one drachm ;
■■ white sugar, two ounces :

Macerate the petals with the boiling water in an earthen vessel,
which is not glazed with lead, for four hours ; then add the acid,
strain the liquor, and dissolve the sugar in it.

Infusion of Roses. (Infusum Rosa. L.)
Take of dried red roses, half an ounce ;

■ ■■ diluted vitriolic acid, three drachms;

boiling distilled water, two pints and a half;

double refiued sugar, an ounce and a half:

First pour the water on the petals in a glass vessel, then add the
diluted vitriolic acid, and macerate for half an hour. Strain the
liquor, when cold, and add the sugar.

The differences in the directions for preparing this infusion
are very material. In fact, the rose leaves have very little
effect, except in giving the mixture an degant red colour. Its
sub-acid and astringent virtues depend entirely on the sulphuric
acid. Altogether, however, it is an elegant medicine, and forms
a vary grateful addition to juleps in hsemorrbagies, and in all
cases which require mild coolers and sub-astringents : it is some-
times taken with boluses or electuaries of the bark, and likewise
makes a good gargle.

Honey of Roses. (Mel Rosae. L. D.)
Take of dried red rose buds, (with the heels cut off, D.) four
ounces ;

boiling distilled water, three pints;

— — clarified honey, (honey, D.) five pounds :
Macerate the rose leaves in the water for six hours ; then mix
the honey with the strained liquor, and boil the mixture to the
thickness of a syrup, (removing the scum, D.)

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BED OFFICINAL ROSE. 497

This preparation is not unfrequenty used as a mild, cooling
detergent, particularly in gargles ftfrr ulcerations and inflamma-
tion of the mouth, apd tonsils. The f o#e buds here used should
be hastily dried, iim tWjflfcy Ae better preserve their astrin-
gency.

The Dublin college, lit Halting this and some similar prepare. '
tions, used un clarified honey, with Jto -idea, probably, that it
may be equally well clarified in (W atfferse of the preparation
itself. This is no doubt true*; but &• wq do not know what
effect the clarification may have* on ft* Mk e substances added
to the honey, we think that the flw of elatMed honey, as di-
rected by the London college, is preferable.

Syrup of Red Roses. (Syrens Rosae Gallic*. E.)

Take of the dried petals of red roses, seven ounces ;

double refined sugar, six pounds ;

boiling water, fi?e pounds :

Macerate the roses in the water for twelve hoars ; then boil a
little, and strain the liquor ; add to it the sugar, and boil again
for a little, so as to form a syrup.

This syrup is supposed to be mildly astringent, but is prin-
cipally valued on account of its red colour.

PRESCRIPTION.
I£. 1. Take of the conserve of red roses • ounce" I,

the conserve of hips - - ounce 1,

gum arabic - • - - - drachms 2,

syrup of violets • - drachms 3 :

Make into a luteins. This is excellent in all coughs, aqd re-
moves the tickling of rheums ; and a iea*spoonfnl may be fre-
quently taken, according to the violence of the disease.

I£. 2. Take of the infusion of red roses * ounces 8,

syrup of the wild poppy - drachm ty,

■ ■ diluted vitriolic acid - • drops 20,

compound powder of tragacaotb, drachm 1 :

Make a miature, of which take two table-spoonfuls four times
a day. Ordered in spitting of blood, and night perspirations;
a medicine of much pleasantness and beauty.

. J£. 3. Take of honey of roses - - ounces %
■ ■ ■ ■ decoction of barley - ounces 6t
This is ofteta injected upon ulcers of the to— ih M*k* it first

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DAMASK ROSE.

ROSA CENTIFOLIA.

CUm XII. Icotandria. Order V. Polygynia.
Esimrr. Gcir. Cm. As the last.

Spec. Char. Germens ovate : Peduncles hbpid: Sfemt and Petefr hispid
and aculeate: Petiole* unarmed.

DESCRIPTION.

The leaves are pinnated, consisting of two or four pair, and an
odd one at the end ; these are oblong and serrated, on short
footstalks. The flowers are very large, beautiful, terminal,
two or three together. The calyx is cat into five segments, and
three of these cnt again into other segments.

HISTORY..

The native country of this shrub is unknown, but the de-
lightful fragrance of its flowers has rendered it the favourite or-
nament of every garden. In the former editions of Linoans,
the damask rose was considered as a variety only of the rota
centifolia ; but Aiton, Da Roy, and WHWenow have- arranged
it aa a distinct species, it is, however, highly probable, that the
petals of all the varieties of the rosa centifolia, or Dutch hunt

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DAMASK ROSE* 499

dred-leaved rose, Willdenow's fifteenth species, are employed
indiscriminately with those of the real damask rose in the distilla-
tion of rose water.

. PREPARATIONS.
Rose Water. (Aqua Rose. L.)
Take of the leaves of fresh damask roses, with the heels cut
off, six pounds';

of water, as much as to prevent burning :

Distil off a gallon.

Note. We hare ordered the distilled waters to be drawn from
dried herbs, because the fresh cannot be. got at all times in the
year. Whenever the fresh are used, the weights most be in*
creased $ but whether the fresh or dry are made use of, we leave
it to the judgement of the operator to vary the weight, according
as- he thinks the plants are in greater or less perfection, owing to
the season in which they grew, or in which they were collected.

Mr. Nicholson mentions, that as rose water is exceedingly apt
to spoil, the apothecaries generally prepare it in small quantities
at a time from the leaves, preserved by packing them closely in
cans with common salt This, we understand, is not the prac-
tice in Edinburgh; and, indeed, cannot succeed with the petals
of the damask rose ; for they lose their smell by drying. The
London apothecaries, therefore, probably use the Ved rose. The
spoiling of some waters is owing to some mucilage carried over
in the distillation ; for, if rectified by a second distillation, they
keep perfectly well for any length of time.
PRESCRIPTIONS,
ft. 1. Take of vitriolated zinc - - grains 10,
■ ■ distilled vinegar - - drachms 2,

rose water ... drachms 14:

Make into a wash for the eyes, and apply this frequently. This
is used when the eye-lid* are greatly tumified, and has performed
wonders in that complaint.

ft. 2. Take of vitnolated zinc • - grains 2,
■■ rose water - - - ounces 7:

Pour some of this lotion into two cups, have a piece of rag in
each cup, and keep the wet rag to the diseased eye, and when
this is warm, remove it, and take the cold rag from the other
cup, and so apply the lotion cold. Even rose water by itself
is very useful for strengthening the eyes, and its smell is rwy
reviving and grateful.

2&S

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•

DOG ROSE.

ROSA CANINA.

Class XII. Ieoaandria. Order V. Polygyria.
Emeht. Gbw . Char. As the last*
8fec. Char. Gcrmmu orate: PeduncUt smooth

Stem and Petals actlettr.

DESCRIPTION.
1 he leaves are pinnate, composed of one, two, or three pain
of pinme, with an odd one at the end. ' The flowers are large
sod terminal, two or three together. Th» corolla is composed
of five heart-shaped petals. The fruit is an oral, fleshy berry.

HISTORY.
Native of Britain, and gives a beautiful appearance to the
hedges in the month of Jane.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
A conserve of hips is made from this, which is more agreeabft
than that of the red rose, and is used for the same purpose.

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„k-^L

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RASPBERRY BU$H.

RUBUS IUiEUS.

Clou XII. Icowndria. Order V. Polygyni*.
EttEXT. Gew. Cba*. Calyx five-deft : iVob five t Jfcrrj oompoaiid : the

idm containing each one teed.
Srzc. CHAR. Leaves five, or three pain of pinna : Stem aculeatcd : P«-

tfofes channelled.

DESCRIPTION.
The stem of this plant is defended with spines, and rises three
or four feet in height The leaves are rough, reined, serrated,
downy beneath, composed of three or five oval pinnae.

HISTORY.

Native of Britain, fonnd in woods, rocky mountains, and
Bioist situations, producing flowers in May and June.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
A cooling fruit, eaten with sugar.

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609 RASFRBRRY BUIH.

PREPARATION.
Syrup of Raspberry.

This is a rery pleasant cooling syrup ; and, with this intss>
tioo, it is occasionally used in draughts and juleps, for qaetfch.
ing thirst, abating heat, &c in bilious or inflammatory distent,
pen. Sometimes, likewise, it is employed in gargarisms for in-
flammations of the mouth and tonsils.

CULINARY USES.
Raspberry Jam.

' Let your raspberries be ripe, and dry. Mash, strew them ia
their weight of loaf sugar, and half their weight of the juke of
white currants. Boil them half an hour OTer a clear slow in,
skim well, and put them into pots, or glasses. Tie down with
brandy papers, and keep them dry. Strew sugar over as sooa
as you can after the berries are gathered, and to preserre their
fineflaYour boil them as soon as you can.

Raspberry Domplivos.

Make a puff paste, and roll it out Spread raspberry jan,
and make it into dumplings. Boil them an hoar; pour melted
batter into a dish, and strew grated sugar orer.

Raspberry Tarts, amd Cream.

Roll out thin puff paste, lay it in a pattypan ; put in rasa*
berries, and strew fine sugar orer them. Put on a lid, and wka
baked, cut it open, and put in half a pint of cream, the yolks of
two eggs well beaten, and a little sugar.

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COMMON TORMENTIL.

TORMBNTILLA ERECTA.

Clats Xll. Icosaodria. Order V. Polypyoia.
Essmrr. Ge*. Char. (7atyj eight-cleft: Pe/afc four: Seed roandish,

naked, allied to a small dry receptacle.
Spec. Chak. Stem somewhat erect : Leaves sessile.

DESCRIPTION.
This plant has slender stems rising five or sii inches, orna-
mented with sessile leaves cat into five lobes, of which three are
largest before, and two smaller behind the stem, all deeply ser.,
rate. Flowers single, on long peduncles, springing from the aim
of the leaves.

HISTORY.
Torroentil Is perennial, and found wild in woods and on com.
raons : it has long slender stalks, with usually seven long narrow
leaves or segments at a joint} the root is for the most part
crooked and knotty, of a blackish colour on the outside, and
reddish within. It has an austere styptic taste, accompanied
with a slight kind of aromatic flavour. Neumann got from 900
grains, 366 alcoholic, and 170 watery extract; and inversely,
670 watery, and eight alcoholic

MEDICAL VIRTUES.
The root is the only part of the plant which is used medid?

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504 COMMON TOEMElfTlL.

nally; it has a strong styptic taste, bat imparts no peculiar
sapid flavour. As a proof of its powerful astringency, it bu
been subsituted for oak bark, in the tanning of skins for leather.
This root has been long held \n £atat estimation by physicians as
a Tery useful astringent ; and as the resin it contains is very in-
considerable, it seems mpfe p^rticujarly adapted to those cases
where the heating and stimulating fh edict nes of this class are less
proper ; as in phthisical diarrhoeas, diarrhoea cruenta, &c. Dr.
Cullen thinks " it has been juajj^ commended for every virtue
that is competent to astringents*" *od says : " I myself hare
had several instances of its virtus* in this respect; and particu-
larly I have found it, both by itself and as joined with gentian,
cure intermittent fevers ; but H must be given in substance, and
in large quantities." Rutty recommends it in these words:
" Ulcera vetera et putrida sanat vino vel aqua decocta collutione
et inspersu. In vino cocta optime deterget et roborat, in olceri-
bus scorbutjcis oris, gutturis, et faucium ac in gingivis dissolutis,
sanguinem stillantibus. Deeoota ad appetitum'deperditum max.
hue valet, toqura ventriculi restitueip, et tordes ejus abstergens.
Non est vegetabile quod in fluxionibus alri efficacius sit. In dy-
senteria epidemica quidam in ore ten en t ad praecavendum con-
tojgiuuu In fluxu sanguinis, fluore albo, et mictu idvoluourif
valet." That is, " it cures old and putrid ulcers, what is tamed
scurvy in the gums, restores appetite, gives tone to the bowels,
is most serviceable in fluxes, passing of blood, floor albns, and
involuntary discharges of water. Held in the mouth, it wards of
the contagion of dysentery*"

I witnessed once mmt extraordinary cores performed by this
root, k poor man, fond of botanical excursions, either by in*
ditiaa or accident knew the powers of this root ; and by making
a strong decoction of it, sweetened with honey, he cured agues
which had resisted the bark, long standing diarrhoeas, ulcers of
the legs turned out oMiospitals as incurable, the worst scorbutic
ulcers, the confluent small-pox, the whooping-cough, fluxes,
&e* &c, so as to excite the attention of lord WaMiam Russell,
who allowed him a piece of ground out of his park to cultivate
his plant, which he kept as a secret; and In fluxes of blood I
have found a drachm, given four times a day hi an infusion of
hops, do wonders. The danger of suddenly checking discharges
should be guarded against, of which this old man knew nothing ;
and occasional purges should be used, or an issue made in the
thigh-

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^^5^

COMMON CINQUEFOIL.

POTENTILLA REPTANS.

Class %U. Icosandria. Order V. Polygynia.
Enurr. Geh. Char. Calyx ten-deft : Stem roundish : Seed naked, roundish,

affixed to a small receptacle.
Spec. Cbam. leaves qainate : Stem repent : Pe/fondks one-flowered.

DESCRIPTION.
The stalks trail along the ground. The leaTes are fire, placed
together, and sometimes seren, of unequal sizes, obtuse, ser,.
rated, veined, standing upon a long petiole. The corolla, like
the last, which it greatly resembles, is yellow.

HISTORY.

It is a native of Britain, common on meadow banks, and the
sides of roads; flowers in July and September.

VIRTUES*
Like the last plant it is astringent, but with less power, and
feu been employed in the same diseases.

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COMMON AVENS.

GEUM URBANUM.

Class XII. Icosandria. Order V. Polygynta.
Embnt. Gen. Char. Calyx ten-cleft: Petals five: Seeds with a kneed

awn.
Spec Char. Flowers erect : Fruit globular, Villous t Awns hooked, naked s

Leave* ly reshaped. _

DESCRIPTION.
Rises a foot high. Root fibrous and aromatic Learcs large,
lyrcshaped, and rough. Stalks upright, hirsute. Flowers ter.
minal, yellow.

HISTORY.
ATens is a common perennial plant, which grows wild in
shady uncultirated places, and flowers from May to Augmst.
The root is fibrous, externally of a dark red colour, internally
white, and has the flarour of cIotcs, with a bitterish astringent
taste. Its Tirtues are said to be increased by cultifation, and

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COMMON AYBH8. 507

die Urge root* are preferred to the smaller fibres. It most be
dog up Id spring, when the leaves begin to appear, for the smell
is then strangest: indeed, it is hardly to be perceived when it
flowers. It must be dried in the air, bat not with a strong
heat, as its flavour would be dissipated, and its virtues dimi-
nished. It tinges both water and alcohol red. Half an ounce <
yielded 30 grains of resinous, and 20 of gummy extract; the
former had the smell of the root, the latter was without smell,
and merely astringent. Water distilled from it has a pleasant
flavour, said carries over a little „thickish essential oil.

MEDICAL USE.

Avens is an old febrifuge, mentioned by Ray, but again
brought into notice by Boerhaave. It is recommended as a sub.
stitute for cinchona in intermittent fevers, dysentery, and chronic
diarrhoeas, flatulent colic, affections of the primes vim, asthmatic
symptoms, and cases of debility. Half a drachm or a drachm
of the powder may be given four times a day, simply, or made
up into an electuary with honey or rhubarb. Two table-spoon*
f ills of the decoction may be given every hour ; or a table-spoon,
fill of a tincture, made with an ounce of the root to a pound of
alcohol, three or four times a day. As an indigenous remedy it
deserves notice.

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WHITE POPPY,

PAPAVER SOMNIFERUM.

Chat XIII. Polyandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Essknt. Gew. Char. CoroHa four petals: Calyx two-leaved: Captub

one-celled, gaping with pores, arising from a permanent, and, when ripe,

an upright stigma.
Spbc. Char. Calyx and Capsules smooth: Leaves amplezicanl, with in-

cisioni.

DESCRIPTION.

This plant rises two or three feet in height. The leaves are
alternate, ovate, smooth, deeply cut into various segments, and
closely embrace the stem. The calyx .soon drops, the flowers
are large and terminal. The stigma is a large flat radiated
crown covering the germen, which afterward becomes the peri*
carp. *

HISTORY.

The white poppy originally came from Asia, and is there
much cultivated, and it produces the opium imported from
thence, which comes to ns in flat cakes covered with leaves : it

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w*iti rorvr. 509

has a reddish brown colour, inclining to blade, and a strong pfe*
culiar smell. Six hundred thousand pounds of it are annually
exported from the Gatigesl It it remarkable that the seeds pos*
•ess not any or a Tory slight narcotic Quality. They consist of
a simple farinaceous matter, united with a bland oil, add serve
as food in some countries, and are given to ratten poultry.

The manner in which this drug is collected ia the East ha*
been described long ago by Katmpfer and others ; but the most
circumstantial detail of it is given by Mr. Kerr, in the fifth vo-
lume of Medical Observations and Inquiries.

When the capsules are half grown, at sunset, they make twd
longitudinal double incisions, passing from below upwards, and
taking care not to penetrate the internal cavity. In Persia, ac-
cording to Kaempfer, * five-pointed knife is used for this pur-
pose. The incisions are repeated every evening, until each cap-
sule has received six or eight wounds : they are then allowed to
ripen their seeds. If the wound were to be made in the hea £ of
the day, a cicatrix would be too soon formed* The night dew*
favour the exstillation of the juice.

Early in the morning, old women, boys, and girls collect the
juice, by scraping it off with a small iron scoop, and deposit the
whole in an earthen pot, where it is worked by the hand in the
open sunshine, until it becomes of a considerable thickness : it
ia then formed into cakes of a globular shape, and about four
pounds in weight, and laid into little earthen basins to be further
dried. These cakes are then covered over with poppy or to-
bacco leaves, and thus dried until they are fit for sale. Opium
is frequently adulterated with cow dung, the extract of {he plant
procured by boiling, and various other Mbstances of which they
make a secret

It appears that the poppy may be cultivated for the purpose
of obtaining opium to great advantage in Britain. Professor
Alston, of Edinburgh, said long since, that the milky juice,
drawn by incision from poppy heads, and thickened either in
the son or shade, has also the characters of good - opium ; its
colour, consistence, taste, smell, faculties, phenomena, are all
the same; only, if carefully collected, it is more pure and free
from Jeculenoies.

Similar remarks have been made by others ; to which, says
Dr. Woodville, we may add our own ; for during that summer

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(probably 1792) we at different times made incisions in the green
capsules of the white poppy, and collected tfee juice, which soon
acquired a due consistence, and was found, both by its sensible
qualities and effects, to be very pure opium. May I be per-
mitted So add, that near fifty years ago I frequently amused my.
self with slashing the green poppy .heads, and collecting a most
pure and well digested opium from them ?

But the merit of first cultivating the poppy for opium is due
to Mr. John Ball, of Willtton, who in the year 179* was re-
warded by the Society of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce,
for procuring opium in an unsophisticated state from British
^poppies, and communicating his mode of preparing it to the So-
ciety for the use of the public.

When the leaves die away and drop off, the capsules or heads
being then hi a green state, is the proper time for extracting the
opium, by making four or five small longitudinal incisions with
a thorp-pointed knife, about an inch long, on one side only of
the bead, taking care not to cut to the seeds : immediately on
the incision being made, a milky fluid will issue out, which being
of a glutinous nature, will adhere to the bottom of the incision ;
but some are so luxuriant that it will drop from the head. The
next day, if the weather should -be fine, the opium will be of a
grayish substance, and some almost turning black ; it is then to
be scraped off, with the edge of a knife, into pans or pots ; and
in a day or two it will be of a proper consistence, to make into
a mass, and to be potted.

As soon, as the opium is all taken away from one side, make
incisions on the opposite side, and proceed in the same manner.
The reason of not making the. incisions all round at once is, that
the opium cannot be so conveniently taken away ; but every
person, upon trial, will be the best judge. Children may with
ease be soon taught to make the incisions, and take off the
opium, so that the expense will be trifling.

An instrument might be mtdc, of a coumtve form, with four
or five pointed lancets, about the twelfth or fourteenth part of
an inch, to make the incisions at once.

Mr. Ball calculates, that supposing one poppy to grow in one
square foot of earth, and to produce only one grain of opium,
more than fifty pounds will be collected from one statute acre.
Bat since one poppy produces from three or four to ten heads,

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each incision sometimes, producing two or. three grains, what
must be the produce, and what the profit at the present price of
apian, twenty-two sailtiags the pound !

I am sensible that great abatements mast be made in. practice
from such theoretical calculations a* these; and that hiour atoist
climate many season* will occur, and meiiy days in almost every
snammer, unfavourable to tha cotteetieo of the opium. It is,
however, with all its disadvantages, a very important object to.,
cultivate the poppy for .this pnrpoee in Britain ;. considering tha
great price of foreign opium, the increasing call for it in medi-
cine, the adulteration of. what is imported by rice flour and other
articles, and the employment that it will find in the collection for
women and children. .

Mr. Ball adds, that in 1795, from a bed of self-sown poppies
576 feet square, he collected four ounces of opium, though the
plants were very thick; and from a few plants that stood de-
tached he took from fifteen to thirty-four grains : this ground
had been well manured with rotten dung. He remarks, that
samidouble flowers, and those of a dark colour, produced the
most opium ; that the heads should be about the toe of a walnut
before the inebrious are made ; and that the foreign dried poppy
heads are full three times as big as oars. Mr. Miller retoarks
also that they are of a different shape ; but the ske is only owing
to climate, and the shape indicates no more than a variety.

Mr. Ball collected from one semidouble poppy a quantity
* which he supposes to be more than thirty grains ; but this plant
had twenty-eight heads on it. He prefers the double and semi-
double-flowering plants to those whieh hare single flowers. But
I .hare obserred that the single poppy, cultivated by our physic-
gardeners here for the seed and the heads, has generally larger
heads than the double poppy cultivated in gardens.

But after all, the point of most importance respecting the col.
tiration of the poppy for opium in Britain is, whether its quality
be equal to that of foreign opium* This has been fully ascer-
tained, not only by a druggist in London having agreed with
Mr. Ball to give him the same price for what he should make in
the year 1796, as the foreign drug should bear at that time, but
by the testimony of several eminent medical gentlemen in London,
who tried it in consequence of the request of the Society for the
Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. Dr.
Latham observer, that in its sensible qualities it does not seem

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Inferior to any; that it pogoasees the eseaitaioe of being per*
fcctfy clean, which Anist always be an advantage when give* la
a crude state ; and that probably the poriled efctratt ef the fo»
lefcgn would not be superior to the Bngtfsb* Br. Pearson also
reports that he found the English opftam to be equally power-
ftil5 and to produce the same effeete as the best foreleg prepaia*
tton of this drug, Mr. Wilson not only foood the English drag
.equal in point of strength to the best extract from foreign opium,
but far superior* to favour, which, in the extract, h attack in*
jured by the boilings and free from the impurities which arose
abnndant hi crude foreign opium.

The next candidate for the premium of a gold medal, value
fifty guineas, was the indefatigable Mr. Jones, who thus ad-
dressed the president of the Society instituted at Leaden for
the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce:

Sir, in the summer of the year 1704 I cuki rated a considera-
ble number of white poppies (entitled in the Now London Pfcaf*
saacoposia, Paptver wtmftnm^ and in another place P4pmm
kortensi $emme atto), whew a few of the beads or capsule* baring
boon broken off by the wind, I observed at the extremity of the
stalks a substance in every respect reaemblhig Turkey opium
This accidental circumstance bringing to my recollection its sue*
thod of production, as related in the Encyclopaedia and eke*
where, I wounded a considerable number of them with my pea*
knife, and in die course of the day collected a small quantity
of the abovementloned Substance. As this circumstance took
place while wo were cutting lavender, it happened that an oid
and experienced servant, who was afterwards to distil it, was
directing and assisting, and we agreed that it was probably ia
effect equal to, and was certainly more pure than, any we had
ever seen.

From this period I have never entirely lost sight of the ob-
ject I am now to consider; but, on account of various avoca*
tions, and particularly my rhubarb plantation, which at this
time required all the attention I could spare, it whs not in my
power to engage irt an undertaking of such magnitude; and
more especially on a scale so extensive as that which I have al-
ready determined to adopt, under a persuasion that experiments,
when more confined, are for the most part fallacious.

As preparatory, however, I have not faired every year to
repeat the operation, at once establishing its practicability, and

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trailing myself of m*oy advantages which en only be derived
from observation and experience.

The inclosed certificates will inform the Society that at length
my plan has been carried into execution, but not with the de-
gree of success that ought, and might hate been expected, to at-
tend so extensive an experiment. .

It most be confessed that had I been at all aware what an
almost Herculean labour I was about to encounter, I reaHy sus-
pect whether my resolution would have been equal to the task.
Lest, however, this should discourage others from prosecuting
this object, it is necessary to be more explicit

Difficulties, and such indeed as are considerable, must neces-
sarily attend most undertakings which have been hitherto nn-
attempted; but the disappointments I sustained, though more
numerous than generally fall to the share of a person under such
circumstances, did not all arise out of the undertaking itself,
but from causes, some of -which may be easily guarded against
in future, while others may never again occur.

Two years hare passed in producing what, I flatter myself,
the Society win consider deserving their premium, particularly
if I am enabled to render the operation much more simple than
may at first sight be supposed.

The claimant, I observe, is required to submit to the Society
his particular method of cultivating the poppies. As the mode
adopted in the present instance arose rather from necessity than
choice, I must go back as far as the autumn of 1707, to show
how it happened.

Five acres of ground and upwards, situated in the parish of
Enfield, in the county of Middlesex, I, appropriated to this ex-
periment at die period above mentioned ; which, being ploughed
several times previous to the following March, were then sown
2>road-cait ; and the weather proving favourable, the seed soon
vegetated, and appearances were very promising. From the
neglected state of the land, however, to which I was unfortu-
nately a stranger, such a profusion of weeds sprang up among
them, that, after many fruitless efforts at recovery, I was under
the mortifying necessity of ploughing them all up together. This
'circumstance not taking place till the latter end of April, the
season for resowing was elapsed ; and as to croppiog my field
rwith oafs or barley, a measure very strongly recommended to

2 t

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£14 WHIT* PMfT/ ,

ae, I considered k as a deviation from my original purpose,
and therefore, without paying any attention to H, gave the field
a summer fallowing, conceiving that poppies might be sown with
equal and perhaps greater advantage in autumn.

Finding that the broadUcafrt method of sowing precluded the
possibility of hoeing where the land is much infested with weeds,
I now adopted a different mode, and drilled in the seed with a
yery simple yet efficient machine, which I purchased of Mr*
Macdougal, of OxfordVstreet ; but, as the weather began to be
very severe so early as November, and continued so with few
intermissions, the succeeding March found me very littie for*
warder* Yet I persevered, and once more resolved to drill the
whole five acres : they came up extremely well, and, as I ex-
pected, accompanied witfi innumerable weeds ; but these by
well-timed application were eradicated, though not without con- .
siderable difficulty*

I now thought myself secure j for nothing could assume a
better appearance, till the beginning of May. Alas i I could
not foresee the cold and remarkably dry weather that ensued,
and prevailed, I believe, for six weeks successively. Hence the
growth of some became stunted, and others were entirety de»
, stroyed ; but happily some warm refreshing showers fell just
time enough to rescue the remainder.

From tbefte I. have procured upwards of tweaty-one pounds
of solid opium, five of which, in compliance with the Society's'
requisition, 1 have sent for their inspection and examination.

At one time I began to despair of even procuring this, com*
parati?ely speaking, small quantity, (though it is not a fifth part
of what 1 ought to have had,) owing to the exti^ordinary tains
and winds which we experienced through the whole of the
summer months.

This recital, as I have before observed, ought on no account
to intimidate others from a cooperation ; for it is obvious that
the former inconveniences originated in my own ignorance,
whilst the latter depended upon causes that in all probability
may never occur again.

Mr. Ball, in a letter published in one of the volumes of the
Society's Transactions, advances an opinion, wbiok I conudev
as very fallacious, respecting the quality of land adapted to uto
growth of poppies. He seems to be v«ryUttkac«iuaintsdabo»t

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WHITE POPPY* 515

this point, and bints the probability of their being cultivated aU
most every where* I well know {bat poppies* like many other
vegetables, will grow in soils of every description ; but of this
I am fairy assured, that, like the rest, tbey have all thar par*
ticnlar and favourite soil, vis. a sancfy loam, and that the better
this is, the' more advantages will accrue to the cultivator: for it
should be considered, that in had, as well as good ground, the
same expenses of cultivation, scarification, and collecting, wilt
be incurred for perhaps a fourth share of the produce.

I shall now lay before the Society some general remarks
on the cultivation of poppies, and then conclude with submit*
ting a few hints and directions respecting the preparation of
opsnm.

Having a tap-root, their size will consequently be propom
tionate to the depth of earth they are enabled to penetrate*
Hence the necessity of land that will admit of deep. plough*
log. The fineness of the surface, too, is very essential. As the
seed is so small, and the plants^ on their first coming up, so
exceedingly tender, the bnshJuurrow should always be used after
those which are commonly employed. By this means a greater
number are likely to vegetate, and, from being better protected,
are less liable to injury.

Poppies (and when I use this natam I mean that particule*
kind before specified) may be cultivated both by the drill and
broad-cast mode of husbandry : at the same time it must be re-
membered, that the land for each requires a different disposition*
In the former this is not so materia], the sowing machine regu.
lating the -distances of the rows according to the will of the ope-
rator: these ought to be nine inches or a foot asunder, and, in
beds containing four rows, allowing a foot and a half between,
each. But, with respect to the latter, this point must be strictl*
attended to : the ridges should never exceed four feet in breadth;
so that the furrows will answer the double purpose ot preeerving
the land throughout the winter, and, in the season for collecting
the opium, serve as paths to the workmen.

Besides two chances of a crop, I am decidedly in favour of
antnmnal sowing ; and the first week in September seems to be
the most favourable period for this purpose. If the weather,
continues open, they will make snob a progress as to be oapabfc
of resisting the severity of an inclement winter, without, on the

2x2

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516 WHITB POPPY.

other hand, being too forward ; a circumstance highly dangerous,
at the first severe frost is inevitably destructive.

On this account, whether by the drill or otherwise, a larger
proportion of seed should be sown at this season, for the plants
will defend each other; and as all the plants will not be equally
forward, so, let the winter prove what it may, prowled the seed
has vegetated freely, there win be great probability of a good
appearance in spring. If unfortunately, however, sneh a winter
as the last should again occur, and the whole plantation fail, a
circumstance which has happened to myself, the spring sowing
ought not to be deferred longer than the first week in March.

I do not without sufficient reason recommend that this ope*
ration should be performed in autumn. The poppies are not
only generally larger, but even, when this is not the case, I
know from experience, that they will yield a much larger pro-
portion of opium ; for it seldom happens that a spring poppy
will bleed, as we term it, more than twice, while the others will
bear scarifying till they are nearly ripe. This, I imagine, cast
only arise from the length of time the one has been in the ground
in comparison with the other. Indeed the difference is so striking,
that if the present winter, destroys vary plants, I shall be almost
tempted to dispose of my spring-sowing to other purposes. In
drilling, the necessity of covering the seed by harrowing is sus-
pended by the operation of the machine ; and, in the broad-cast
method, a shower of rain will have all the effect without further
trouble or expense.

Excepting great additional care, turnip and poppy hoeing are
similar, and in every respect may be conducted in the same man*
ner. I believe the turnips are rather benefited, they certainly
are not injured, by being shaken, and will recover from the ef-
fects of a wound; but if the poppies are accidentally touched,
they will either exhaust themselves by bleeding, or dwindle so
as to be of no value. But it is high time to proceed to the last
point I proposed to consider, namely, the production and pre-
paration of opium.

In ordinary seasons, the heads or capsules of the autumnal
poppies wiH be large enough for our purpose in the month of
June; for at this -time they will have attained about half their
growth, or to be equal in mm to a small tea-cup. I have in-
vented a variety of instruments as scarificators; but as only two

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white rorrr. 517

kinds were actually used, I am unwilling to trouble the Society
with a description of any other*.

Seven and sometimes eight boys were employed, from eight
to twelve years of age, together with a man as a superintendent.
The children's hook, which accompanies the instruments, con*
tains only an account of six, as the eldest, being the son of my
gardener, is included in another book. To the youngest I gare
threepence per day, and, if tractable and well disposed, an addi-
tional penny for every additional year.

The steel instrument was used by the latter, and the others
by the former. I have great reason to be satisfied with their
construction ; for, notwithstanding their simplicity, they proved
themselves fully equal to my purpose;. and so considerable a
trial has not suggested any other improvement, than that in
the largest the two inner bars only should be elastic; for the
continual pressure .of the finger and thumb on the two outer
ones, which is absolutely necessary for the others to act^ would
be avoided, and consequently some fatigue and inconvenience
prevented.

It is of very little consequence whether the first incisions are
made horhontally or vertically with this instrument ; for, bow*
ever luxuriantly the milk may flow, by making four at one time,

* Mr. Jones has since added the following description of the instruments,
nnd their mode of application. They remain in the Society's repository.

The first of these instruments consists of two thin steel blades, fixed by a
wedge in a wooden handle, so as to make incisions about one fourth of an
inch from each other.

The other is made entirely of steel, and resembles in form the tuning*
fork of a harpsichord. It consists of four bars, proceeding from a handle
•f a convenient length, a quarter of an inch wide, and two and a half long,
each terminating with a bolster, through which a screw passes that fixes
the scarificators. The centre bars should be so elastic as to yield to the
curvature of the capsule, upon the outer ones being pressed by the finger
and thumb ; and by this means four* incisions are made at once, at equal
distances. This instrument Is an inch and throe quarters in width; but
from the two outer blades, only an inch and a quarter. The bolsters are
a quarter of an inch in diameter, and the scarificators a proportionate
length, namely, three-eighths. The wedge in the former, and a longi*
tndinal aperture in the scarificators, or blades, of the latter, will regulate
the depths of the Incisions at the will of the operator. It b of the utmost
iapertaace that these should not be made through the Inner comer of the
Capsules.

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518 white poptt.

it so diviOet the stream that seldom any escapes. With tie
smaller ones we most commonly made than korisontatiy, begia.
ning as near the top of the head as possible ; aad for this reason
all the juices, if the first incision was made at the bottom, woald
bo naturally attracted by the aperture, and reader every other
completely fruitless, besides occasioning the certain less of a eon*
Siderable quantity, by fatting on the surrounding leaves ; where-
as, on the other hand) a proportion of milk will exude from
each, and the opium be equally distributed over the whole sor-
faoe of the head.

No particular directions seem necessary for repeating this ope*
tion, auy further than that each time it should be performed in
a contrary direction, and continued till no more will exude, at
Internals of four or five days or more, according to circanw
Stances : for, as the weather proves rainy or fair, they will be
shorter 6r longer, the heads being sooner replenished in the one
than the other.

Each of die children being provided with a tim cup, having
one handle, so contrived as to fix itself to a girdle fastened round
Ids waist, with a common gardening knife they scraped off the
opium that appeared upon the heads in a soft ash-coloured tab*
stance. Dewy mornings are best calculated for this purpose,
and it should be discontinued so soou as the sun has gained a
sufficient power to dissipate it ; for, if persevered in throughout
the day, some of the opium will recede into the interstices, and
more, iu defiance of every endeavour, will remain npon the
Heads. The principal quantity exudes in the course of the night;
and, uniting with the dew, it is taken off as readily and as com-
pletely as with a sponge.

Several regulations were adopted to excite, as much as possi-
ble, a spirit of emulation. The name of each boy was written
upon his cup, so as to ascertain, on their return from collecting,
who had been the most active. And although, in consequence
of the unsettled state of the weather, this part of our process
continued so long as from the 6th of July to the second week
in September inclusive, the good effects were felt to the last
And as, for the reason already mentioned, an hour in the morn-
ing became so invaluable, those who appeared in the ground at
4ve o'clock, at the most busy period, became entitled to an ad-
ditional penny to their daily pay. This measure succeeded at
first only with a few ; but the remainder, overcome by shame,

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white p*r*r« 510

at length attended equally well. In addition^ thb encourage,
meat, I am under as engagement (in case I succeed with the
society X to such whose behaviour has been uniformly good, to
ccisbrete the rircasnstance by a public dinner*

The iotertal from breakfast time to sun-set, if the weather
assnmed a settled appearance, was occupied by scarifying. An*
here I again felt the good efeets of stimulating measures : cer-
tain places were allotted to particular children, according to their
ability, so as to discover who scarified the most and the best ;
the superintendent occasionally following all of them, to oheerre
whether any work was left unfinished, and, if there were any,
to complete it* If, in our progress, any one preyed refractory,
which, happened in more instances than one, rather than hate
recourse to severity, and for the sake of example, he was law
mediately discharged. I had numerous applications, and the
first on the list always had the preference as his successor.

Upon the whole, considering it was the first attempt of the
kind, tw ery thing proceeded very regularly ; and had the summer
been propitious, notwithstanding my former disappointments, I
should hare had great cause for satisfaction. The largest quan-
tity that my man, seven children, and myself, were able to pro-
cure in one morning, from fire to nine o'clock, was one pound
and a half; this happened when the dew was remarkably great,
and succeeded one of the warmest days in the summer.

As my notes furnish me with no further particulars, I hare
very little more to add. The opium, when first collected, from
its union with the dew, is much too soft to be so formed as the
Society has received it

To reduce it to a proper consistence, taking nature for oar
guide, it should be thinly spread in shallow dishes, and exposed,
under glasses, to the rays of the sun. My opinion is, that
Turkey opium suffers considerably from the operation of fire |
certain it is, that, with respect to its effiavia, it undergoes a com.
plete alteration. I have covered it with its own leaves, thinking
this a very convenient mode of package, and conceiving it to be
important, in every new undertaking, by studying appearances,
to yield to the general prejudices which naturally prevail in fa-
vour of the article to which we have been accustomed.

I have several times trespassed on the patience, of the Society ;
on the present occasion I have again been seduced into prolixity.
I hope they wiH receive the same apology now as before, know-

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680 wm« poppy.

Sag so well how acceptable every coniSMimealioa of thhvksad,
though extended even to minuteness, is to the interested inquirer,
^o the utmost of my power I hive complied with the requisition
of the Society in class 175, ia describing the mode of cultivating
the poppies, end preparing my opium ; and, in doing this, I can
truly s*y that every thing which I have advanced is founded on
the evidence of (acts. I have been unwilling to indulge myaehf
in mere speculation, being of opinion that a paper of snch a de-
8cription as the present would prove ranch more acceptable if
confined to experiment alone.

Had it been necessary, I could have introduced a variety of
quotations on this subject, describing the method of preparing
opium in other countries ; but surely this would have been fo-
reign to the subject The information which the Society and the
public require, is what really has and may he done, as related
in this paper. This information does not consist of vague evi-
dence, collected from accounts of doubtful veracity, and of
course more calculated to mislead than instruct; on the con-
trary, I have closely adhered to what I conceived to be the prin-
cipal intention of the Society ; have related nothing hut what I
actually saw 5 have confined myself to a barexecitaL of dream*
stances; and harp only occasionally ventured to make deduc-
tions*

I acknowledge, with heartfelt pleasure, the repeated honour*
with which the Society has distinguished me; am not without
hope, that this additional proof of perseverance and exertion,
will also receive its approbation. With the certificates I have
inclosed a very flattering letter from Dr. WoodvUle, author of
Medical Botany. |t in a great measure proves, that if the prac-
ticability of preparing this inestimable medicine in this kiqgdoca
can be established, the opium itself possesses every quality that
can be desire4«

I remain, sjr, your most pbedjent servant,

Thomas Jo***.

Sir, I called yesterday morning to examine the opium collected
by you from the capsules of the white poppy; and J have no
doubt, from its taste, smell, colour, and purity, but that it is
more powerful and efficacious than the best foreign opium im-
ported into this country.

The late Dr. Alston, when professor of botany and the ma?

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WR1YB FOPFT. 5S1

teriamesBca la the university of Edinburgh, informed die public,
more than sixty years ago (See Med. Essays, toI. t), that the
milky juice, drawn by him from the beads of th$ white poppy,
soon acquired the consistence of opium, when its taste, smell,
fSscakies, ftc* were die same as those of that drag.

la the year 1791 1 con? ioced myself pf the truth of his asser-
tion, by repeating his experiments, which I noticed the follow-
ing year in my Medical Botany. Soon after this time I appro-
priated a part of the garden at the Small-pox Hospital for the
growth of the Papaver somniferum, from the green capsules of
which were collected between two and three ounces of opium,
which was found to be more efficacious than that of the exotic,
as appeared npon trials of it made by several of my medical
friends. But the great trouble and length of time required for
the collection of the juice, induced me at that time to think that
the manufacture of this valuable medicine in England did not
(old forth any prospect of commercial advantage. However,
since I have seen the great quantity of it collected under your
direction, I sincerely hope that the above opinion will prove to
be unfoun4ed, and congratulate you oo your success.

Tour obedient servant,

W. Woodvillb.

To the Society far the Encouragement of Arte, Manufactures, and
Commerce.

I, William Duncan, of Philpot-lane, in the city of London,
chemist and druggist, do hereby certify, that I have examined
twepMy-one pounds seven ounces of opium, made by Mr. Thomas
Jones, of Fish-street Hill, from poppies grown on his planta-
tion at Enfield ; and I declare, that it appears to me to be as
fine opium as the best I have ever seen in the course of my ex*
perience, for upwards of thirty years : and I further declare,
that the whole of the said twenty-one pounds seven ounces is
of equal quality with the five pounds sent herewith for the in-
spection of the said society.

William Duncan.

To the Committee of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, &c

Gentlemen, agreeably to your request to the physicians of
St. George's Hospital, conveyed in a letter of the 6th of May
Jast, I, as one of that body, return you the result of the trials.

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5S2 whiye pcxprr,

made with the English opium, in a few cases under mf cam.
[Then follow the cases.]

If a larger quantity of the draft, whose tirtaes were to he de-
termined by experience, had been sent; more trials would have
been made ; but 1 hate no doubt that the same effects, and by
at least as small a dose, . wonld hare been produced by it as by
the best foreign opium. 1 hare the honour to be, gentlemen,

Yoar most obedient servant,

O. Pearson.

To the Committee of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, tsfc.

Gentlemen, agreeably to. your request, we hare tried the
opium you were so good as to send to the hospital, and am
sorry, in the short time in which you desired an answer, that
we have had only one case to give it a fair trial, namely, Eliia.
beth Spraughton, who has been several weeks under the care of
Dr. Vaughan with a diseased state of stomach, and in whom we
suspect a scirrhus of- that vise us. She has been in the habit of
taking one grain of opium every four or six hours, according
to the violence of pain which she suffered. On the sixth of
May she began with your English opium, made into pills of one
grain each, antf found as much relief as she used to do from the
foreign opium. She has continued taking them ever since, and
with the same effect — I remain, gentlemen,

Your obedient humble servant,

G. E. Lawksmcx, Apothecary.

The Committee of Chemistry, to whose examination the En*
glish opium, prepared by Mr. Jones, was referred by the So^cty,
ordered samples of the opium to be left with several eminent
chemists for their analysis and judgement; in consequence of
which, die following preparations were laid before the committee
by those gentlemen, viz*

Extract of English opium, in proof spirit.

Hard extract of English opium.

Watery extract of English opium of the late dispensatory.

Tincture of English opium of the present pharmacopoeia.

Tincture of English opium of the late dispensatory.

English opium powdered.

Similar preparations of fine foreign opium were produced it
comparison.
• From die general result of these experiments it appears, thai

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Miv Joeas's Ebgliah opium is equal in quality to fin* foreign
optttin ; and the certainty of its growth in this country, prepara*
tion, and efficacy, fairly established.

Two kinds of opium are found in commerce, distinguished by
the names of Turkey and East India opium.

Turkey opium is a solid compact substance, possessing a con*
derable degree of tenacity ; when broken, having a shining frac-
ture and uniform appearance ; of a dark brown colour ; when
moistened, marking on paper a light brown interrupted streak,
and becoming yellow when reduced to powder ; scarcely colour*
iag the saliva when chewed, exciting at first a nauseous bitter
taste, which soon becomes acrid, with some degree of warmth ;
and having a peculiar heavy disagreeable smell. The best kind
is in flat pieces, and besides the large leaves in which it it enve-
loped, » covered with the reddish capsules of a species of rumex,
probably used in packing it. The round masses, which have
none of these capsules adhering to them, are evidently inferior
in quality. Opium is bad if it be soft, or friable, mixed with
any impurities, have an intensely dark or blackish colour, a
weak or eropyreunmtic smell, a sweetish taste, or draw upon
paper a brown continued streak.

East Indian opium has much less consistence, being sometimes
not much thicker than tar, and always ductile. Its colour is
mack darker ; its taste more nauseous, and less bitter ; and its
smell rather empyrenmatic. It is considerably cheaper than
Turkish opium, and is supposed of only half the strength. One-
eighth of the weight of the cakes is allowed for the enormous
quantity of leaves with which they are enveloped. In the East
Indies, when opium is not good enough to bring a certain price,
it is destroyed under the inspection of officers.

Opium is not fusible, but is softened even by the heat of the
fingers. It is highly inflammable. It is partially soluble, both
in alcohol and in water. Neumann got from 1930 parts of
opium, 1590 alcoholic, and afterwards 80 watery extract, 320
remaining undissolved ; and inversely 1380 watery, and 300 al-
coholic extract, the residuum being 440.

The solutions of opium are transparent, and have a brown or
vinous colour. The watery solution is not decomposed by al#
cohol. A small quantity of matter, which, as far as my expert*
meats go, is neither fusible nor remarkably inflammable, is*e-

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624 WHITE FOPPT.

panted from the alcoholic solution by water. I have also ob-
served that tha watery solution of opium, or the alcoholic, alter
it has been precipitated bj water, does not redden vegetable
blues, is not precipitated by adds or alkalies, but is precipitated
copiously by carbonate of potass, muriate and super-nitrate of
mercury, oxymuriate of tin, sulphate of copper, sulphate of
sine, acetate of lead, nitrate of silver, and red sulphate of iron.
The precipitate in the last case was of a dirty brown colour, not
resembling those by alkaline or astringent substances. The solu-
tions of opium, especially the watery, are also copiously preci-
pitated by infusion of galls. This precipitate seems to resemble
that produced by duchonin, and to be different from that pro-
duced by gelatine.

The narcotic virtues of opium are imparted by distillation to
alcohol and to water, and they are diminished, or entirely dwri
lotted, by long boiling, roasting, or great age. The part of opium
which is not soluble either in water or in alcohol, is albumen,
according to Gren ; caoutchouc, according to Buchholrx ; a vi-
rulent glutinous substance, according to Josse ; and Proust says
it contains wax. From experiments made some years ago, I
concluded that it was perfectly similar to die gluten of wheat
flour, or fibrine. Long ago it was proposed to separate the re-
sinous, parts of opium by the same process that the fibrine of
wheat flour is obtained. The fact is, that if Turkey opium be
kneaded in a large quantity of water, the soluble parts are re-
moved, and there remains in the hand an adhesive plastic mass,
of a paler colour, not fusible, but becoming ductile when im-
mersed in hot water, inflammable, imparting some colour to al-
cohol, but not soluble in it East India opium, treated in the
same way, is entirely dissolved or diffused in the water, and
leaves no plastic mass in the hand.

Upon the whole, it appears that the active constituent of
opium, though not perfectly understood, is of a volatile nature,
but sometimes fixed by its combination with the other consti-
tuents ; that it is soluble both in water and in alcohol; that it is
dissipated in the processes recommended for purifying opium hy
solution and evaporation ; and that the attempts made by seme
pharmaceutists, to obtain a preparation of opium which should
possess only its sedative without its narcotic effects, only suc-
ceeded in so far as they diminished its activity.

By evaporating a watery solution of opium- to the <

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WHITE POPPY. 525

of a syrup, Derosne obtained a precipitate, which was increased
by diluting it with water. He dissolved this in hot alcohol, from
which it Again separated on cooling* When purified by repeated
solutions, it crystallized in rectangular prisms with rhomboidal
bases, had no taste or smell, was insoluble in cold water, and
soluble in 400 parts of boiling water, did not affect vegetable
blues, was soluble in 24 parts boiling alcohol, and 110 cold; *
soluble in hot aether and volatile oils, and separated from them
as they cooled ; rery soluble in all acids, and highly narcotic
These observations are curious, and the experiments deserve to
be repeated.

MEDICAL USE.
rtbe action of opium on the lifing system has been the subject
of the keenest controversy. Some hare asserted that it is a di-
rect sedative, and that it produces no stimulant effects whatever ;
while others have asserted as strongly, that it is a powerful, and
highly diffusible, stimulus, and that the sedative effects, which it
undeniably produces, are merely the consequence of the previous
excitement The truth appears to be, that opium is capable of
producing a certain degree of excitement, while the sedative eft
fects which always succeed, are incomparably greater than could
be produced by the preceding excitement. The stimulant effects
are most apparent from small doses. These increase the energy
of the mind, the frequency of the pulse, and the heat of the body,
excite thirst, render the mouth dry and parched, and diminish all
the secretions and excretions, except the.cuticnlar discharge,
which they increase. These effects are succeeded by languor
and lassitude. In larger doses, the stimulant effects are not so
apparent; but the excitability is remarkably diminished, and
confusion of head, vertigo, and sleep, are produced. In exces*
live doses, it proves a violent narcotic poison, producing head*
ach, vertigo, delirium, and convulsions, accompanied with a very
slow pulse, stertorous breathing, and a remarkable degree of
insensibility or stupor, terminated by apoplectic death. In one
case, where I inspected the body after death, the inner menu
brane of the stomach was remarkably corrugated, and with some
inflammation ; but as large doses of sulphate of sine and flour
of mustard had been also taken, no inference can be drawn from
these appearances. The bad effects of an over-dose of opium,
are often prevented by the occurrence of vomiting, and they are
beat counteracted by making the patient drink freely of adds

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and coffee, and not permitting him to yield to bis desire of sleep-
ing. By habit, the effects of opium on the body are remarkably
diminished. There have been instances of four grains proving
fatal to adults, while others have been known to consume as
many drachms daily. The habitual use of opium produces the
same effects with habitual dram drinking — tremors, paralysis,
stupidity, and general emaciation, and, like it, can scarcely ever
be relinquished.

In disease, opium is chiefly employed to mitigate pain, dimmish
morbid sensibility, procure sleep, allay inordinate actions, and
to check diarrhoeas and other excessive discharges. It is contraia*
dicated in gastric affections, plethora, a highly inflammatory stale
of the body, and determination of the blood to particular viscera.
In mtermittents, it is said to have been used with good effect
tn erery stage. Given even in the hot stage, it has been ob-
served to allay the beat, thirst, beadaeh, ami delirium, to induce
sweat and sleep, to cure the disease with less bark, and without
leaving abdominal obstructions or dropsy.

In fevers of the typhoid type, accompanied witit watchfulness
or diarrhoea, it is extremely useful ; but vf hen not indicated by
particular symptoms, it does harm, by augmenting thirst and
producing constipation.

Especially when combined wfth calomel, it has lately been
much employed in infamiqations from local causes, suck as
wonnds, fractures, burns, absorption of morbid poisons, as in
swelled testicle, Sec. ; and even in active inflammations, accom-
panied with watchfulness, pain, and spasm, after blood-letting.

lb small-pox, when the convulsions before eruption are fre-
quent and considerable, or when the accompanying lever is of
the typhoid type, opium is liberally used. It is likewise gives
from the fifth day onwards ; and is found to allay the pain of
suppuration, to promote the ptyalism, and to be otherwise useful.
In dysentery, after the use of gentle laxatives, or along with
them, opium, independently of any effect it may have on the
fever, is of consequence in allaying the tormina and tenesmus,
and in obviating that laxity of bowels which so frequently re-
mains after that disease.

In diarrhoea, the disease itself generally carries off any of-
fending acrimony, and then opium is used wkh great effect.
JSvefl in the worst symptomatic eases, it seldom Mis to aHevtatav

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WHITE P0PPT. 687

Id cholera and pyrosis, it is almost the only thing trusted to.

In colic, it is employed with laxatives ; and often prevents
ileus and inflammation, by relieving the spasm. Even in ileal it
is sometimes used to allay the vomiting, the spasms, and the pain*

It is given to allay the pain and favour the descent o( calculi,
and to give relief in jaundice and dysnria proceeding from spasm*

It is of acknowledged use in the different species of tetanus ;
affords relief to the various spasmodic symptoms of dyspepsia,
hysteria, hypochondriasis, asthma, rabies carina, &c, and has
been found useful in some kiuda of epilepsy.

In syphilis it is only useful in combating symptoms, and in
counteracting the effects resulting from the improper use of mer.
cury,for it possesses no power of overcoming the venereal virus.

It is' found useful in certain cases of threatened abortion and
lingering delivery, in convulsions during parturition, and in the
after-pains and excessive flooding.

The administration of opium to the unaccustomed is some*
times very difficult. The requisite quantity is wonderfully diL
ferent in different persons, and in different states of the same
person. A quarter of a grain will in one adult produce effects
which ten times the quantity will not do in another ; and a dose
that might prove fatal in cholera or colic, would not be percep-
tible in many cases of tetanus or mania. When given in too
small a dose, it is apt to produce disturbed sleep, and other
disagreeable consequences ; but sometimes a small dose has the
desired effect, while a larger one .gives rise to vertigo and deli-
rium, and with some constitutions it does not agree in any dose
or form. Its stimulant effects are most certainly produced by
the repetition of small doses, its anodyne by the giving of a full
dose at once. In some it seems not to have its proper effect till
after a considerable time. The operation of a moderate dose is
supposed to last in general about eight hours from the time of
taking it

Externally, opium is used to diminish pain, and to remove
spasmodic affections. It is found particularly serviceable in
chroeic ophthalmia, when accompanied with morbidly increased
feasibility.

Opium may be exhibited,

1. In substance, made np in the form of a pill, losenge, or
. electuary. Its most efficient form.
SL Dissolved in diluted alcohol, or white wine.

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528 WHITE POPPY.

' 3. Dissolved in water, or watery fluids. Very perishable.
4* Dried and reduced to powder.

It is often gifen in combination with aromatics, astringents,
emetics, bitters, camphor, soap, distilled waters, mucilage, sy-
rups, acids, carbonate of ammonia, ether, acetate of lead, tar*
trate of antimony and potass, and unctuous substances. Some
of these are certainly uncbemical mixtures ; for I find by experi-
ment that the solutions of opium are copiously precipitated by
astringents, the alkaline carbonates, and all the metallic salts.

PREPARATIONS.
Purified Opium. (Opium Purificatum. L. D.)

Take of opium, cut into small pieces, one pound ;

" proof spirit of wine, twelre pints :

Digest the opium with a gentle heat, stirring now and then nil
it be dissolved, and filter through paper. (Distil the tincture,
so prepared, to a proper thickness, L.) (Distil in a retort until
the spirit be separated : pour out the liquor which remains, and
evaporate, until the extract acquires a proper thickness, D.)

Purified opium must be kept in two forms ; one soft, proper
for forming into pills ; the other hard, which may be reduced
into powder. A pill of half a grain usually produces sleep at
night.

Tinctuke op Opium* or Thebaic Tincture, commonly
called Liquid Laudanum. (Tinctura Opii, si?e Thebaic*,
Tulgo Laudanum Liqutdum. E.)

Take of opium, two ounces ;
■ diluted alcohol, two pouuds :

Digest for seven days, and filter through paper.

Lond. Dub.

Take of hard purified opium, powdered, ten drachms ;

— — proof spirit of wine, one pint :
Digest for ten (seren, D.) days, and strain.

As these tinctures, on evaporation, furnish the same quantity
of extract, they are belie? ed to be of nearly equal strength ; bat
it is to be regretted that they are not so well adapted for keep*
iag as could be wished : after some time, a part of the opium is
gradually deposited from both, and consequently the tinctures
become weaker : the part which thus separates, amounts

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times* it is said, to near one-fourth of the quantity of opium at
first dissolf ed. The dose is commonly twm+yJ&J>6 drops at. bed-
time to procure sleep. .

Ammoniatjsd Tincture of Opium, forherly Paregoric
Elixir. (Tinctura Opii Ammoniata, olim Elixir Parego-
ricum. E.)

Take of benzoic acid,

— English saffron, sliced, of each three drachms ;

opium, two drachms ;

• " ■ volatile oil of Miseed, half a dracltm;
■ ">■■ " aaiDoaiatseVaAcoho^tfurteoft ounces:
Digeqtfo* seteujdays, hi a.ctosa tessel, and filter (through paper.

This is 4 preparation of consMeaable efficacy la maay spas-t
modic diseases, as chincoaga^&c., *he ammonia Amoving -the1
spasm immediately, while the opium tends ia prercbt its return.
Each drachm contains about a grain of opium. The dose is
from twenty to thirty drops.

Pills of Opium. (Pilute Opii. L.)

Take of hard purified opium, powdered, two cbrachms ; - .

■ extract of ttquorfce, one Qutwe r

EetA them until they are perfectly united. The dose is fife grains
at bed-time to procure sleep.

Watery Extract of Opium. (Extractum Opii Aquosum. D.)
Take of opium, two ounces; , .

■ m. ■■ >i boiling water, one p»t *

Triturate the opium well in the waiter /or ten minutes ; then,
.after, waiting-* little, pour off tbe liquor, and triturate the re-
maining opium with the same quantity of boiling water, pouring
off the infusion, in the same manner. This may be repeated a
third time. Mix the decanted liquors? and expose the mixture
in an open Tessel, for two days, to the air. Lastly, filter through
linen, and, by slow evaporation, form an extract The dose is
one grain.

Opiate Powder. (Pnlris Opiatus. JL.)
Take of hard purified opium, powdered, onerdoaphm.; .
— - — - burnt and prepared hartshorn, nine dranbms.: /
-Mix them.

2 M

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830 imm potpy.

Eibu
Take of opium, one part;

— prepared carbonate of Hmc, nine parts:
Rub them .together to a fine powder.

In these powders the opjam is the actife ingredient, and it
is immaterial whether the phosphate or carbonate of lime~be used
to facilitate ks mechanical dirWon.

Opiate Electuary, commonly called Thebaic Electuary.
(Electnarinm Opiatum, olim Electoariam Thebaicum. E.)

Take of aromatic powder, six ounces ;

— — — Virginian snake-root, in fine powder, three ounea;

opinm, diffused in a sufficient quantity of Spunk*

white wine, half an ounce ;

— — syrup of ginger, one pound :
Mix them, and form an electuary.

Cohpbctioh op Opium. (Confcctio Opiata. L.)

Take of hard purified opium, powdered, six drachms ;
■ long pepper,

— — caraway seeds, of each two ounces;

■ ayrup of white poppy, boiled to the
honey, three times the weight ef the whole:

Mix die purified opium with the syrup heated; then add tht
other ingredients rubbed to powder.

The action which these electuaries will produce on the lWiof
system is abundantly apparent from the nature of their iagie-
dients. They are combinations of aromatic* with opinm; one
grain of opium being contained in thirty-six of the London con-
fection, and in forty.three of the Edinburgh electuary*

Liquorice Troches with Opium. (Trochisci Glycyrrhise
cum Opio. E.)

Take of opium, two drachms;

■ tincture of Tolu, half an ounce;
- common syrup, eight ounces ;

■■ ■ extract of liquorice, softened in warnf water,

■ gum arabSc, in powder, of each fife ounces :
Triturate the opium well with the tincture, then add by degree*
the syrup and extract; afterwards gradually mix in the powdered

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WHITE FOPPY. SSI

gam arabic. Lastly, dry them so as to form .a mass, to be di-
Tided into troches, each weighing ten grains.

These directions for preparing the abore troches are so full
and particular, that no further explanation is necessary • seven
and a half contain about one grain of opium. These troches
are medicines of approved efficacy in tickling coughs depending
on irritation of the fauces. Besides the mechanical effect of the,
Viscid matters in in? olving acrid humours, or lining and defend,
ing the tender membranes, the opium no doubt must hare a con-
siderable effect, by more immediately diminishing the irritability
of the parts themselves. One of these is to be occasionally taken
during the day to allay a sickling, irritation in the throat

TABLE

Showing the Proportion of Opium in some Compound Mediants.

Opiate confection contains one grain of opium in thirty-six
grains. L.

Opiate or Thebaic electuary contains in each drachm about a
grain and a half of opium. £.

Electuary of catechu, or Japonic confection, contains in each
ounce about two grains and a half of opium ; for one grain of
opium is contained in 193 grains. E.

Compound electuary of catechu contains in each ounce about
two grains and a half of purified opium. D.

Compound powder of chalk with opium contains one* grain of
opium in about forty-three grains. L.

Compound powder of ipeeacuana contains one grain of opium
in ten grains. L. D.

Powder of ipeeacuana and opium contains six grains of opium
to each drachm, or one in ten. fi.

Opiate powder contains one grain of opium in ten. L.

Pills of opium contain one grain of opium in fire. L.

Opiate or Thebaic pills contain six grains of opium in each
drachm, or fife grains contain half a grain of opium, J2.

Pills of storax, in fire grains of the mass, contain one grain
of purified opium. D.

Tincture of opium or liquid laudanum is made with two scruf
pies of opium in each ounce of the liquid, or with fire grains ill
each drachm ; but a drachm of the tincture appears, by evapora-
tion, to contain about three grains and a half of opium. E.

Tincture of opium contains, in a drachm measure, about four
grains and a half of purified opium. D.

%* 2

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53* WHITE POPPY.

' Camphorated tincture of opfri'm contains in four drachms and
a half, by measure, one grain of purified opium. D.

Ammoniated tincture of opium, or paregoric elixir, is made
frith about eight grains in each ounce of the liquid, or with
about one grain in the drachm. E.

Syrup of opium contains in an ounce measure about a grain
of the watery extract of opium ; for the liquor, by the addition
of the sugar, is more than doubted in bulk. D.

Tincture of soap and opium, formerly called opiate liniment,
anodyne balsam, is made with one scruple of opium in each
ounce of the liquid. E.

Troches of liquorice with opium contain about one grain of
opium in each drachm. E.

PRESCRIPTIONS.

ft; 1. Take of purified opium .... scruple 1,

soap ....... scruples 2,

essential oil of cinnamon - drops 2 :

Soften the opium first with a little wine, then mix well with the
rest. The dose is one pill, to ba taken at bed-time to proem
sleep,
ft* 2. Take of purified opium ... grain* 3,

purified storax ... grams 8,

» ■ ■ , aromatic powder - • grains 4:

' syrup of Tola, as much as is sufficient :

Make into seven pills. Take two at bed-time*

ft. 3. Take of pills of opium ... grains 15;
Make into four pills. Give one at bed-time, and, if that in an
hour does not procure sleep, give another, and, if this produces
no effect, in half an hour repeat a third, or even the fourth,
ft. 4. Take of tincture of opium (laudanum), drops 2$,
— cinnamon water ..... ounce 1,

syrup of Tolu .... drachms 2 :

Make into a night draught

ft. 5. Take of tincture of opium ... -drachms 2,

decoction of barley - - ouvoes 8:

Make a glyster to be thrown up* To atop diarrheaa, and re>
more spasm.

ft. 6*. Take of tincture of opium . » drops 15,
— opalk mixture ... ounces 6,

cinnamon water. - .« « <*nm* t* .

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WHITE POPPT. 533

Make into a mixture, of which take a large table-spoonful every
six hours. Given to stop a loosena^g*
$• 7. Take of powder of rhubarb .... grains 10,

powder of chalk with opium - scruple 1,

powder of chalk without opium, drachm 1 :

Make into four papers, of which take one, night and morning.

rj. 8. Take of tincture of opium - - -' drops 2Q,
— — chalk mixture - . . - ounces 4£,

tincture of cinnamon - - ounce £,

cinnamon water - . ounces 2:

Make a mixture, of which take two table-spoonfuls after every
liquid motion. Given in diarrhoea, and the looseness often at*
tendant upon consumption.

fy. 9. Take of tincture of opium - drachms %

vitriolated zinc - - grains 8,

rose water - - - - ounces 4:

Take two tea-spoonfuls in a wine glass of weak chamomile tea
every four hours. Ordered in diarrhoea.

J^. 10. Take two poppy heads,
Boil them in a quart of milk, and use this as a fomentation.
Excellent in inflamed eyes, used also to relieve the pain of in-
flammation from a blister or other cause.

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CORN POPPY.

PAPAVER RHJEAS.

Class XIII. Polyandria. Order I. Mooogynia.
Essent. Gen. Cha*. The tame as the last.

Spec. Char. Capsule smooth, globular: Stem hairy, maoy-ftowcrei :
Xeaoes pinnatifid, gashed.

DESCRIPTION.
The stalk is upright, branched, having hairs standing at right
angles ; rises two feet. Leaves pinnate. Peduncles slender, long,
hairy, carrying a single flower. Calyx drooping, falls. Petals
a bright scarlet, four. Stigma radiated.
HI8TORY.
Common in corn-fields, flowers in June and July.

PREPARATIONS.
Syrup of White Poffies. (Syrupus Papareris Somniferi. E.)
Take of white poppy-heads, dried, and freed from the seeds,
two pounds ;

boiling water, thirty pounds ;

double refined sugar, four pounds :

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Macerate the sliced heads in the water for twelve hoars : boil
the infusion till only one- third part of the liquor remain ; then
•train the decoction with strong expression. Boil the strained
decoction to the consumption of one-half, and strain again;
lastly, add the sugar, and boil a little, so as to form a,syrup.

Syrup of White Poffies. (Syrupus Papaveris AlbL L.)

Take of the heads of white poppies, dried, three pounds and
a half;

■ double refined sugar, six pounds ;

— distilled water, eight gallons :

Slice and bruise the heads, then boil them in the water to three
gallons, in a water bath, saturated with sea salt, and press out
the decoction. Reduce this, by boiling, to about four pints,
and strain it, while hot, through a sieve, then through a thin
woollen cloth, and set it aside for twelve hours that the faeces
may subside. Boil the liquor poured off from the fasces to three
pints, and dissolve the sugar in it, that it may be made a syrup.

Dub.

Take of white poppy.heads, gathered unripe, dried, and emp-
tied of their seeds, one pound ;
'■ boiling water, three pints :
Slice and bruise the heads, then pour on the water, and mace-
rate for twelve hours; express the liquor, and evaporate in a
moderate heat to one pint ; strain through thin flannel, and set
aside for six hours to allow the faeces to subside : to the decanted
liquor add the sugar, and make into a syrup.

This syrup, impregnated with the narcotic matter of the
poppy-heads, is given to children, in doses of two or three
drachms, and to adults, of half an ounce to an ounce and up*
wards, for easing pain, procuring rest, and answering the other
intentions of mild opiates. Particular care is requisite in its pre-
paration, that it may be always made, as nearly as possible, of
the same strength ; and accordingly the Colleges have been very
minute in their description of the process.

Steuf of Red Poffies. (Syrupus Papaveris Erratici. L. D.)
Take of the fresh flowers of the red poppy, four pounds (one

pound, D.)»
. boiling distilled water, four pints and a half (twenty

ounces, by measure, D.):

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686 CQBtf FO*tY*

JPutthe flowers, by degrees, into the boiling water, in a water
jbath, constantly stirring than* After this, the ressel being taken
net of the bath, maoerate for twelve hours ; then press ont On
Honor, add set it apart, that the feces ssay subside. Lastly,
make it into a syrup with double refined sugar*

The design of putting the flowers into boiling water in a water
bath is, that they may be a little scalded, so as to shrink enough
to be all immerged in the water ; without this precaution they
can scarce be all got in : but they are to be continued no longer
oyer the fire than till this effect is produced, lest the liquor be-
come too thick, and the syrup be rendered ropy.

As a medicine, it has little power.

The dose of this syrup is half an ounce to an ounce. The
red syrup is often used to colour medicines, and given to infante
in the dose of a tea-spoonful.

PRESCRIPTION.
]£. Take of syrup of red poppies . drachms 2,
- tincture of opium - - drops 20,

cinnamon water - . • ounce 1,

rose water ... - drachms 4 ;

Make into a draught, to be taken at bed.time.

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CLOVE TREE.

CARYOPHYLLUS AROMATICUS.

Class XIII. Polyandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Essbnt. Gen. Char. Coroltm fowpetalled : Calyx four-leaved: Berry

one-seeded, beneath.
Spec. Char, Leaves ovate-lanceolate, opposite: Flowers terminal.

DESCRIPTION.

T his is not a lofty tree, and divides into large branches. The
leaves are large, entire, and stand upon short footstalks. The
flowers terminate the branches. The colour of the petals is blue.
The pericarp is one-celled, umbilicated, and terminated by the
indurated converging calyx. The seed is a large oval berry.

HISTORY.

Cloves yield by distillation with water about one seventh of
their weight of volatile oil ; 960 parts also gave to Neumann 380

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558 CLOVE TRUE.

of a nauseous, somewhat astringent, watery extract The suae
quantity gaTe only 900 of excessively fiery alcoholic extract
When the alcoholic extract is freed from the volatile oil Dy <fi-
stillation with water, the oil that arises proves mild, and the ran

that remains insipid. Its pungency, therefore, seems to depend
on the combination of these principles. The Dutch oil of cloves
is extremely hot and fiery, and of a reddish brown colour ; bat
it is greatly adulterated, both with fixed oils and resin of cloves;
for the genuine oil when recently distilled is comparatively quite
mild and colourless, although it gradually acquires a yellow co-
lour. It is heavier than water, and rises in distillation with some
difficulty ; so that it is proper to use a wery low. headed still, and
to return the distilled water several times upon the residuum.

MEDICAL USE.
Cloves, considered as medicines, arc very hot stimulating aro-
matics, and possess in an eminent degree the general virtues of
substances of this class.

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CRETAN CISTUS.

CISTUS CRETICUS.

CttUt Xllf . Polyandria. Order I. Monogynia.
Emect. Gew. Char. CoreAi five-petalled: C«ia* five-leaved, two of

these leaves smaller : a CapnUe.
Spec. Char. Arborescent, without stipules: Lesves sptrtojate-ovate,

wrinkled, and rough with veins, petioled : Calyx leaves lanceolate.

DESCRIPTION.
This is a most beautiful shrub, filled with branches. The leaves
are oblong, pointed, veined, rough, viscous, in pairs, upon
short footstalks, broad at the base. The flowers appear in suc-
cession at the end of the branches in June and July, are of a
light ndy marked with- a dark spot at the end of each petal.

HISTORY.

This is a perennial shrub, which grows in Syria, and more
especially in the Grecian islands. The resin is said to have been
formerly collected from the beards of goats which browsed the
leaves of the cistus : at present a kind of rake, with several straps

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540 CRETAN CISTU8.

or thongs of skins fixed to it, is drawn lightly over the shrub, so
as to take op the unctuous juice, which is afterwards scraped
off with knives. It is rarely met with pure, crcn in the places
where it is produced ; the dust, blown upon the plant by the
wind, mingling with the viscid juice, and the inhabitants also
being said to mix it with a certain black sand. In the shops
two sorts are met with : the best (which is very rare) is in dark-
coloured, almost black, masses, of the consistence of a soft
plaster, which grows still softer upon being handled; of arery
agreeable smell, and of a light, pungent, bitterish, taste : the
other sort is harder, not so da rk-co loured, iu long rolls coiled
up : this is of a much weaker smell than the first, and has a
larger admixture of a fine sand, which in the ladanum examined
by the French Academy made up three-fourths of the mass; and
that found in the shops seems even more sandy. What Neu-
mann examined, howefer, gave him 5400 alcoholic, and 480
watery; and inversely, 960 watery, and 496*0 alcoholic extract,
from 7680 parts. In distillation water carries over a volatile
oil, and alcohol distilled from it becomes milky on the addition
of water.

PREPARATIONS.

Compound Burgundy Pitch Plastbk. (Emplastrum Picis
Burgundies Com posi turn. L.)

Take of Biugundy pitch, two ppirada^

ladanum, one pound ;

• yellow resin,

yellow wax, of each four ounces;

expressed oil of mace, one ammobi

To the pitch, resin, and wax, melted together, add fast tfca la-
danum, and then the oil of mace.

Compound Ladanu* Px,as*bb. (Enpiawtrtm Ladaat
Compositum. L.)

Take of ladanum, three ounces ;

■ frankincense, one ounce ;

■ cinnamon, powdnnod,

■.,'., expressed oil of mace, of each half an ounce ;

— ; — — essential oil of mint, one drachm :
To the melted frankincense add first the ladanum, softened by
heat, then the oil of mace. Mix these afterwards with the ciu-

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CRETAN CI8TUS. .541

namon and oil of mint, and beat them together, in a warm
mortar, into a plaster. Let it be kept in a close vessel.

This has been considered as a very elegant stomach plaster.
It is contrived so as to be easily made occasionally (for these
kinds of compositions, on account of their volatile ingredients,
are not fit for keeping), and to be but moderately adhesive, so
as not to offend the skin, and that it may, without difficulty, be
frequently renewed ; which these sorts of applications, ui order
to their producing any considerable effect, require to be. They
keep up a perspiration over the part affected, and create a local
action, which diverts inflammation. Consumption from colds
in deHcate habits is by such means frequently obviated. After a
long continued cough in the winter a Burgundy pitch plaster
should be put over the breast-bone.

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GREATER CELANDINE-

CHELIDONIUM MAJUS.

Cltm XIII. Potyaadria. Order I. M oaogyaia.
Eararr. Gav. Caaa. CmroOa foar-petalled: Ctlyx two-tape*: SffifM

oae-cetled, linear.
Spec. Caaa. Peduncles in an umbel.

DESCRIPTION.

Rises from one to two (eeL LeaTes pinnated, terminal pinna?
large, lobed; margin deeply scolloped. Flowers yellow, in
small umbels. Germen long, cylindrical, bent

HISTORY.

Grows wild in nncultWated spots, flowering most part of the
year.

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GREATER CELANDINE. 543

MEDICAL USE.

The juice which distils upon breaking this plant is yellow,
Rod has much acrimony, as such it has been employed to eat
away warts, and mixed with hog's lard as an escharotic ; also to
cat away opacities in the cornea : mixed with water it has been
used as an eye water, and taken internally in obstructions of
the lifer. Linnaeus reports, that a tea-spoonful of the juice
giren fonr times a day in water has cured an intermittent.

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COMMON PEONY.

PjEONIA OFFICINALIS.

Clast XIII. Polvandria. Oritr II. Digynia.
EftiENT. Gen. Char. Calyx five-leaved : Petals fire : Styles none : Gpfufc

many-seeded.
Spec. Crab. Leaves oblong.

DESCRIPTION.
The stalk rises two feet. Leaves cat into lobes, which are
oblong, or, if jfinnated, terminated by an odd pinna. Capsules
two, oblong, hirsute, crowned with a stigma.
HISTORY.
Native of Switzerland, comon far our gardens, which it em-
bellishes with its fine pompadour flowers in May and June.
MEDICAL VIRTUE.
The famous Willis recommends the root to be given in the
form of a powder, a drachm three or four times a day, which
he affirms to have cured both infants and adults labouring under
epilepsy. Home gave this root to two persons suffering under
that disease in the Edinburgh Infirmary, and he declares that one
of them received a temporary advantage from its use.

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COMMON CAPER BUSH.

CAPPARIfr SPINOSA.

Cta** XIII. Polyandria. Order I. Monogynia.

Esse* t. Gen. Char. Calyx four-leaved, coriaceous : Petal* four : Sta-
mina long i Berry leathery, one-celled, pedunculate.

Spec. Char. Peduncle* solitary, one-flowered t Stipules spiny : Leave* de*
cidnous: Capsule* oval.

DESCRIPTION.

Lea yes alternate, on short footstalks, oral, veiny, succulent,
of a bright green. Flowers numerous, axillary, on long pe-
duncles, white, with a faint blush of red. Petals waved. Fila-
ments conspicuous, of a pale purple : anthers the same. Germen
standing upon a round purple footstalk, having the appearance
of a style.

HISTORY.

Native of the south of France, Italy, and the Levant.

2 w

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546 COMMON CAPER BUSH.

MEDICAL USE.

The bark of the root has been used in obstructions of the lire?
and menstrual suppressions.

CULINARY USE.

The buds are made into a pickle with Tinegar, and chopped
up with melted batter, and eaten with boiled mutton. At first
the taste is unpleasant, bat after a little use becomes extreme!/
agreeable.

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PALMATED LARKSPUR.

DELPHINIUM STAPHISAGRIA.

Class XIII. Polyandria. Order III. Trigynla.
Ennrr. Gait. Char. Ca/yjr none: Petals five : Nectary bifid, behind cor-

aated : SiHqtut three, or five.
Spbc. Char. Nectaries three-leaved, shorter than the petal: .Leaves pal-
d, lobes obtuse.

DESCRIPTION.

XvrsES two or three feet Leaves palmated, divided into five or
seven lobes, which are ovate or lance-shaped, on very long
peduncles below, shorter above, giving a conical shape to the
whole plant* Flowers blue or purple.

HISTORY.

Staresacre is a biennial plant, a native of the south of Eu-
rope. The seeds are usually brought from Italy. They are
large and rough, of an irregular triangular figure, of a blackish
colour on the outside, and yellowish or whitish within ; they

3n2

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548 PALMATED LARKSPUR.

have a disagreeable smell, and a v$ry nauseous, bitterish, burn-
ing taste.

Neumann got from 480 parts, 45 alcoholic extract, besides
00 of fixed oil, which separated daring the process, and after-
wards 44 insipid watery; and inanely, 05 watery, and the*
tyr alcohol only one, besides 71 of oil.

MEDICAL U6E,

Stavesacve was employed by the ancients as a cathartic; hot
ft operates with so much violence both upwards and downwards,
that its internal use has been for some time almost laid aside, , It
is chiefly employed in external applications for some kinds of
cutaneous eruptions, and for destroying lice and other insects;
insomuch that from this virtue it has received its name in different
languages. The fine powder is put in(b the hair each night, and
combed out the following morning, ft is safe, and much used
after a long sickness,

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WOLFSBANE, or MONKSHOOD.

ACONITUM NAPELLU9.

Chtn Xllt Polyandria. Order III. Trigynia.
Essevt, Gen. Char. Catyx none j Petals fife, the upper arched : Ned* *

riee two, pedunculate, recurred : SiUqum three or five.
8pbc. Cha*. Peduncle* aggregate, terminal : FCsfib four.

DESCRIPTION.

This grows from two to fire feet, erect. Tie leafes are iobei,
deeply laclakted, standing alternate upon long footstalks ; upper
leates almost sessile, the ladnte broader than the under: Hie
superior urrface of the leaf a deep green, the Wider wfcitidi.
Flowers numerous, terminal, of a deep purple. Tke «{pper
petal helmeUshaped, or hood-like*

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550

HISTORY.

It if a perennial plant, found in the alpine forests of Carin.
thia, Carniola, and other mountainous countries in Germany,
and cultivated in our gardens.

The fresh plant and root are^very violent poisons, producing
remarkable debility, paralysis of the limbs, convulsive motioos
of the face, bilious vomiting, and catharsis, vertigo, delirium,
asphyxia, death. The fresh leaves have very little smell, but
when chewed have an acrid taste, and excite lancinating puns,
and swelling of the tongue. By drying, its acrimony is almost
entirely destroyed. For medical use, the plant must be gathered
before the stem shoots.

MEDICAL USE.

When properly administered, it acts as a penetrating stimulus,
and generally excites sweat, and sometimes an increased discharge
of urine.

On many occasions it has been found a very effectual remedy
in glandular swellings, venereal nodes, spina ventosa, amaurosis,
gouty and rheumatic pains, intermittent fevers, and convulsive
disorders.

We may begin by giving one or two grains of the dried leaves
in powder, but it is commonly used in the form of an inspissated
juice. As soon as the plant is gathered, the juice is expressed
and evaporated without any previous clarification, to the con-
sistence of an extract. It Is to be regretted that the powers of
this medicine vary very much, according to iU age, and the heat
employed in its preparation. When recently prepared, its action
is often too violent ; and when kept more than a year, it be-
comes totally inert. It may therefore be laid down as an uni-
versal rule in the employment of this and of many other similar
active medicines, to begin with very small doses, and to increase
them gradually to the necessary degree ; and whenever we ha?e
occasion to begin a new parcel of the medicine, we should again
commence with the smallest dose, and proceed with the saae
caution as at first

We may begin by giving half a grain mi tafc extract, either
.formed into a powder with ten grains of white sugar, or made
up with any convenient addition into a pill, twice or thrice
a day, and gradually increase .the dose: or a tincture of aconite
may be prepared by digesting one part f>f the dried leaves in six.

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wolf's-ban^, or monk's-hood. 551

parts of spirit of wine ; the dose of which will be at first five or
ten drops, and may be gradually increased to forty. .

PREPARATION.

Inspissated Juice of Aconite. (Succus Spissatos Aconiti
Napelii. £.)

Bruise the fresh leaves of wolfsbane, and, enclosing them in a
hempen bag, compress them strongly till they yield their juice,
which is to be evaporated in flat vessels heated with boiling wa-
ter, saturated with muriate of soda, and immediately reduced to
the consistence of thick honey.

After the mass has become cold, let it be put np in glazed

rthen vessels, and moistened with alcohol.

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WINTER'S BARK TREE.

WINTERA AROMATICA.

Clan XI II. Polyandfte. Order IV. Tetragynla.
Embht. Gee . Char. Ca/yx tbree-lobed : Peteb six or twelfe : (taM

clavate : Sfyfes none : Berry clavate. -
Sfec. Chae. Peduncles aggregate, terminal : Ptftib four.

DESCRIPTION*

A tree rising often fifty feet. Leaves oral or elliptical, entire,
obtuse, flat, shining, of a pale blue underneath, irregularly
placed upon thick peduncles. Calyx thick, fleshy. Corolla
petals white, small. Germen turbinate.

HISTORY.

This is the produce of a tree first discovered on the coast of
Magellan by captain Winter in the year 1567* The sailors them
employed the bark as a spice, and afterwards found it service-
able in the scurvy ; for which purpose it is at present also some-
times made use of in diet drinks. The true Winter's bark is not
often met with in the shops, canella alba'being generally sobtfi.

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WINTER Y B AUK TREE. 553

tuted for it ; and by. some, they are reckoned to be the came :
there is, however, a considerable difference betwixt them in ap-
pearance, and a greater in, quality. The Winter's bark is in
larger pieces, of a more Jjlnnamon colour than the canella, and
much warmer and more pungent Its smell resembles that of
cascarilla. Its virtues reside in a very hot, stimulant, volatile
oil.

MEDICAL USE.

This bark is a warm stomachic, and but little applied in me-
dicine, the canella alba being generally substituted in it* place,
which is supposed to have nearly the same virtues.

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BLACK HELLEBORE,

CHRISTMAS ROSE.

HELLEBORUS NIGER.

Close XUl. Polyandria. Order VI. Polygynia.
Embjtt. Ge*. Char. Calyx none': Petals five, or more : Nectary bilabiate,

tubular : Capsule many-seeded, rather erect.
8pec. Cbar. Scape one- or two-flowered, nearly naked : Leaves pedate.

DESCRIPTION.
The scape or flowers talk is erect, and proceeds from a bractea,
or rather inrohicrum. The flowers are white, at first conspi-
cuous, afterwards turn green. The nectaries are eight, tubular,
and bilabiate, of a green colour. The germina vary from four
to eight The leaves are compound, divided in a peculiar manner

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BLACK HELLBBORfe, OR CHRIST* A 8 ROSE. 555

resembling a foot, fixed a pen radical footstalks. The simple
lea?es are oval, smooth, thick, serrated towards the top.

BtSTOfcY.

This plant is perennial, and grows wild in the mountainous
parts of Austria, and on the Pyrennees and Appennines. The
earliness of its flowers, which sometimes appear in December,
has gained it a place in our gardens.

The roots consist of a black furrowed roundish head, about
the size of a nutmeg, from which short articulated branches
arise, sending out numerous corrugated fibres, about the thick,
ness of a straw, from a span to a foot in length^ deep brown on
the outside, white or yellowish white within, and of an acrid,
nauseous, and bitterish tast£, exciting a sense of heat and numb.
ness in the tongue, and of a nauseous acrid smell. These fibres
only are used in. medicine, and the head and decayed parts are
rejected. For the roots of the real black hellebore, the roots of
the Adonis vernalia, Trollius Europaeus, Actsea spicata, Astran-
tia major, Hellebores viridis foetid us, Veratrum album, and Aco.
nitura rieomontanam, are often substituted. The last is a most
virulent poison, -and may be distinguished by its roots being fu-
siform, or nearly globular, sending out numerous very brittle
fibres, of a grayish black or brown colour, as thick as the
finger, and repeatedly divided. But the surest way to avoid
mistakes, to by the apothecary cultivating the plant itself in his
own garden.

Neumann got from 2880 grains, 380 alcoholic, and 181 wa-
tery extract; and inversely, 302 watery, and 181 alcoholic. Its
actire constituent seems to be of a volatile nature ; for it loses
its virtues by keeping, and water distilled from it has an acrid

taste.

MEDICAL USE.

In large doses, hellebore is a drastic purgative; in smaller
doses, it to diuretic and emmenagogue. It is principally used as
a purgati? e in cases of mania, melancholy, coma, dropsy, worms,
and psora, and as an emmenagogue. But its use requires very
great caution, for its effects are very uncertain, and affected by
many circumstances.

It is commonly exhibited in the form of extract, although its
activity be much dissipated by the preparation. An infusion
and tincture certainly promise to be medicines of more uniform
powers.

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556 BLACK HElABBOftB, OR CH*ItTMA» ROSE.

PREPARATION.

Tnronras or Black Hellebore. (Tinctura Heilebori

Nigri. L. D. E.)

Take of black hellebore, in coarse powder, four ounce*;

cochineal, powdered, two scruples (half a drachm, E.)j

proof spirit of wine, two pints (two pounds and a

half, E.):
Digest with a gentle heat for se?en days, and strain.

This is perhaps the best preparation of hellebore, when de-
signed for an alterative, the menstruum here employed extracting
the whole of its Virtues. It has been found particularly service*
able in uterine obstructions. In sanguine constitutions, when
chalybeates are hurtful, it has been said that it seldom fails of
exciting the menstrual evacuations, and removing the bad effects
of their suppression. A tea-spoonful of the tincture may be
taken twice a day in warm water, or any other convenient
vehicle.

PRESCRIPTION.

J£. Take of the washed flowers of sulphur ounces %

■ black hellebore, in powder . drachms 4,

■ essence of bergamot . . . drachm 1,
■ bog's lard .- ..... ounces %i

Make into an ointment; smear only the joints for three nights,
and wmh it off with soap and water the following morning. The
itch is sure to disappear. Repeat the same process in a week,
when an effectual cure will be produced. It may be as well at
the same time to take night and morning a tea^spoonful of an
electuary of flowers of sulphur mixed with honey or treacle.

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FGETID HELLEBORE.

HELLEBORUS FCETIDUS.

Cfets XIII. Polyandria. Order VI. Polygynia.
Essbjit. Gbv. Cha*. Same as the last.
Spec, Char. Stem many-flowered, leafy : JLeavet pedate,

DESCRIPTION.
This also rises to two feet in height The leares below are
numerous, and stand upon long footstalks, resembling the for-
mer : those abore are narrow, lanceolate, of a dark green. The
Sowers are inconspicuous, green, terminal, upon long peduncles.

HISTORY.
This plant is found wild in England, and flowers in February.

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558 90ETID HELLEBORE.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

A decoction of about a drmdnn of the green leaves, or Afreet
grains of the dried, is given to children, and repeated three
mornings, when it seldom fails expelling the round worms; "or
a tea-spoonCul'of the juice, mixed with syrup, may be given for
that purpose.

Its extract, which contains mostly its gummous parts, with
some of its resin, is milder than the root itself, and Is nsed for
the same purposes : it. is given from fire grains to a scruple.

Its tincture, called tmclwra fpelampodu, the old name given
to this plant, which is drawn with one pound of proof spirit
from four ounces of the root, is of the same nature. Dr. Head
recommends it as one of the most powerful medicines he knew
for removing obstructions of the menses, given in the qnaatitjr
of a teiuspooainl twice a day. I have often used it on Dr.
Mead's recommendation ; and though it did not succeed in erwy
case, yet I found no medicine so efficacious in removing uterine
obstructions, and restoring the natural menstrual discharge, as
this tincture.

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UPRIGHT VIRGINS BOWER.

CLEMATIS RECTA.

Clou XIII. Poljandria. Order VI. Polygjnia.
Essavr. Gbw. Cbab. Calyx none : PeJab four to six : &*b caudate.
Spec. Cbab. Leaves pinnate: ' Pituut ovate-lanceolate, entire: 8Um
erect : Flowers fbnr- ana ave-pe tailed.

DESCRIPTION.
This plant rises about two feet in height. Leaves opposite,
and pinnated. Pinnae in pairs, and terminated by an odd one.
Flowers terminating the stem in irregular umbels. Petals white.
Seeds attached to their styles, which give them the appearance
of feathered tails.

HI8TORY.
Native of Hungary, Austria, and France, and flowers from

June till August

MEDICAL USE.

Dr. Stoerck recommends an infusion of two or three drachms
of the leaves in a pint of boiling water, of which he gave four
ounces three times a day. The bruised leaves were applied to
ulcers as an escharotic. Given also in cutaneous affections, ul-
cers, and venereal affections of long standing.

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MEADOW ANEMONY,

PASQUE FLOWER.

ANEMONE PRATENSIS.

Clots XIII. Polyandrla. Order VI. Polygyria.
Emsnt. Gem. Char. Calyx none : Petals six to nine : Seeds many.
Sfbc. Char. Peduncle ipvolucred : Petals reflexed at their apex : Leaves
bipinnate.

DESCRIPTION.
1 his plant rises six or eight inches. Stem erect, furnished near
the top with a laciniated involucre. Leaves radical, bipinnate.
Segments short, linear, of a glaucous green colour. Petals six,
of a beautiful purple in the inside, the outside covered with soft
hairs, reflexcd. The seeds retain their styles, which appear like

downy tails.

HISTORY. . - .

Nati? e of Germany, and flowers in May.

MEDICAL TJS&
This medicine resembles the last in active powers, and, besides
the diseases mentioned in that history, has been tried with success
in several of the most incurable diseases of the eyes ; as amaa*
rosis, cataract, and opacity of the cornea. Dose the same as
with the last.

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UPRIGHT MEADOW CROWFOOT.

RANUNCULUS ACR1S.

Clatt XIII. Polyandria. Order VI. Polygynla.
Char. Cakjs fiWlea?ed : Petab five, with * melliferous

c h nilgais.

. <7a(pr spreading: Ptivmctes snUtffth : Jtaa*r feNte tripartite'
£/pjw fcavet linear.

DESCRIPTION.
s plant rises two feet. Lower leares on upright peduncles*
trifid, subdifided into smaller laciniated lobes, marked underneath
with small prominent reticular Teins. Flowers of a fine yellow^
as if glased.

MEDICAL tfSB.
The leare* ha?e been pounded and applied as a poultice, wheii
It produces a vesication like a blister. Rheumatic affections
kare often readily giren way to its use. It has been used in-
ternally for worms ; and it may be remarked, that if a decoction
of this plant be poured on ground containing worms, they will
be forced to rise from their concealments, and may be taken in
abundance for fishing with, although we cannot but condemn
such bait as a wicked and barbarous practice*

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SPEARMINT.

MENTHA VIRIDIS.

Ciasi XIV. Didynamia. Ortkr I. Gjnmotpenaia.
Embxt. Gjbh. Char. Corolla Bubreqaal, four-cleft : the broader ladmk

emarginate: Stamens erect, distant.
Spec. Char. $pikc* oblong : Leave* lanceolate, naked, settftte, asauls:

Stamina the length of the corolla.

i mm. i .

DESCRIPTION.

X his plant rises two feet Leaves large, elliptic, setrafe
pointed, of a green colour, in pairs, seated on a short foes*
«ta)k. Flowers small, purple, produced in tasmiaal spikes.

HISTORY.

Spearmint is perennial, and a natire of Britain ; flowers m
August.

MEDICAL VIRTUE,

It is not so warm as peppermint, and bis an agreeable flavour ;
it is therefore preferred for tea, and is (
and carminatfre.

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tPBAHMINT. 563

PHBPARATI0N8.

Distilled Spearmint Water. (Aqua Menthae Viridis.)

Take of spearmint, pound ty,
* water, as much as to prevent empyreuma t

Distil off one gallon.

Spirit op Spearmint. (Sptritus Menthae Viridis.)
Take of spearmint, 1£ pound;
— — — diluted alcohol, 9 pounds, E. ;
proof spirit, one gallon, L. :

Macerate for two days in a close vessel; then pour on as much
water as will prevent empyreuma, and draw off by distillation
nine pounds.

' Volatile Oil op Spearmint. (Oleum Volatile Menthae *
Viridis.)

Volatile oils are prepared nearly in the same manner as the
distilled waters, except that less water is to be added.

Substances which differ in volatility may be separated from
each other by applying a degree of heat capable of converting
the most volatile into vapour, and by again condensiqg this va-
pour in a proper apparatus. Water is converted into vapour at
2l£°, and may be separated by distillation from the earthy and
saline matters which it always contains in a natural state. But,
it is evident, that if any substances which are as volatile as wa-
ter be exposed to the same degree of heat, either by immersing
them in boiling water, or exposing them to the action of its
steam, they will rise with it in distillation. In this way the
camphor and volatile oils of vegetable substances are separated
from the more fixed principles.

Volatile oils are obtained only from odoriferous substances ;
but not equally from all of this class, nor in quantity propor-
tional to their degree of odour. Some which, if we were to
reason from analogy, should seem very well fitted for this pro*
cess, yield extremely Httle oil, and others none at all. Roses
and chamomile flowers, whose strong and lasting smell prow
mises abundance, are found to contain but a small quantity of
oil : the violet and jessamine flower, which perfume the air with
their odour, lose their smell upon the gentlest eoction, and do
not afford anf oil on being distilled, unless immense quantitise

2o 2

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564 8PBARMINT.

are submitted to the operation at once $ while satin, whose dis-
agreeable scent extends to no great distance, gives out the largest
proportion of volatile oil of almost any vegetable known.

Nor are the same plants equally fit for this operation, when
produced in different soils or seasons, or at different times of
their growth. Some yield more oil if gathered when the flowers
begin to fall off than at any other time. Of this we have ex-
amples in lavender and rue ; others, as sage, afford the largest
quantity when young, before they have sent forth any flowers;
and others, as thyme, when the flowers hare just appeared. All
fragrant herbs yield a larger proportion of oil, when produced
in dry soils and in warm summers, than in opposite circum-
stances. On the other hand, some of the disagreeable strong-
scented plants, as wormwood, are said to contain most oil in
rainy seasons, and when growing in moist rich grounds.

Several chemists have been of opinion, that herbs and flowers,
moderately dried, yield a greater quantity of volatile oil than if
they were distilled when fresh. It is, however, highly improba-
ble that the quantity of volatile oil will be increased by drying;
on the contrary, part of it must be dissipated and lost But
drying may sometimes be useful in other ways, either by dimi-
nishing the bulk of the subject to be distilled, or by causing it
to part with its oil more easily.

The choice of proper instruments is of great consequence for
the performance of this process to advantage. There are some
oils which pass freely over the swan-neck of the head of the
common still: others, less volatile, cannot easily be made to
rise so high. For obtaining these last, we would recommend a
large low head, having a rim or hollow canal round it : in this
canal the oil is detained in its first ascent, and thence conveyed
at once into the receiver, the advantages of which are sufficiently
obvious*

We cannot separate the volatile oils from aromatic substances
by distilling them alone, because the proportion of these oils Is
10 small that they could not be collected ; and besides, it would
be impossible to regulate the heat so as to be sufficient, and jet
not to bum the subject, and destroy the product. Hence it b
necessary to distil them with a proportion of water, which an.
swers extremely well, as the oils are all more volatile in water,
and soluble in it only to a certain extent

With regard to the proportion of water to be employed ; if

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SPEARMINT. 565

whole plants, moderately dried, are used, or the shavings of
woods, as much of either may bo pat into the vessel as, lightly
pressed, will occupy half its cavity; and as much water may
be added as will fill two.thirds of it. When fresh and juicy
herbs are to be distilled, thrice their weight of water will be fully
sufficient; but dry ones require a much larger quantity. In ge-
neral, there should be so much water, that, after all intended to
be distilled has come over, there may be liquor enough left to
prevent the matter from burning to the still. The water and
ingredients, altogether, should never take up more than three,
fourths of the still ; there should be liquor enough to prevent
any danger of any empyrenma, but not so much as to be apt to
boil over into the receiver.

The subject of distillation should be macerated iu the water
until it be perfectly penetrated by it. To promote this effect,
woods should be thinly shaved across the grain, or sawn, roots
cut transversely into thin slices, barks reduced into coarse pow-
der, and seeds slightly bruised. Very compact and tenacious
substances require the maceration to be continued a week or
two, or longer; for those of a softer and looser texture, two
or three days are sufficient ; while some tender herbs and flowers
not only stand in no need of maceration, but arc even injured
by it. The fermentation which was formerly prescribed in some
instances, is always hurtful.

The fire ought to be quickly raised, and kept up during the
whole process, but to such a degree only that the oil may freely
distil ; otherwise the oil will be exposed to an unnecessary heat ;
a circumstance which ought, as much as possible, to be avoided.
Fire communicates to all these oils a disagreeable impregnation,
as is evident from their being much less grateful when newly
distilled than after they have stood for some time in a cool
place ; and the longer the heat is continued, the greater altera.
tion it produces in them.

The greater number of oils require for their distillation the
heat of water strongly boiling : but there are many also which
rise with a heat considerably less ; snch as those of lemon and
citron peel, of the flowers of lavender and rosemary, and of
almost all the more odoriferous kinds of flowers. We have al-
ready observed, that these flowers have their fragrance much
injured, or even destroyed, by beating or bruising them ; it is
impaired also by the immersion io water in the present process,

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566 gPBAKHIH?.

and the more so in proportion to tlje continuance of the is*.
mersioa and the heat : hence oils, distilled in the common Ban-
ner, pro? e much less agreeable in smell than the subjects '
selves. For the distillation of substances of this ctoss, i
method has been contrived; instead of being immersed in water,
they are eiposed only to its vapour. A proper quantity of
water being put into the bottom of the stffl, the odoriferoas
herbs or flowers are laid lightly in a basket, of such a stse that
it may enter into the still, and rest against its sides, jiist abort
the water. The head being then fitted on, and the water" made
to boil, the steam, percolating through the subject, imbibes the
oil, without impairing its fragrance, and carries it over into the
receiver. Oils thus obtained, possess the odour of the subject
in an exquisite degree, and have nothing of the disagreeable
scent perceivable in those distilled by boiling them in water ia
the common manner.

Plants differ so much, according to the soil and season of
whiph they are the produce, and likewise according to their own
ages, that it is impossible to fix the quantity of water to be
drawn from a certain weight of them to any invariable standard.
The distillation may always be continued as long as the tiqaor
runs well flavpured off the subject, but no longer.

The mature of water and oil, which comes over, may either
be separated immediately, by means of a separatory, cm* after it
has been put into large narrow-necked bottles, and placed m a
cool place, that the portion of oil which is not dissolved in the
water may rise to the top, or sink to the bottom, according tu
its specific gravity. It is then to be separated, either by a se-
paratory (Plate I. fig. 10. of Duncan's New Edinburgh Dispen-
satory) ; or by means of a small glass syringe ; or by means of
a.filter of paper; or, lastly, by means of a woollen thread, one
end of which is immersed in the oil, and the other lower end in
a phial : the oil will thus pass over into the phial by capillary
attraction ; and the thread is to be squeezed d>y.

The water employed in the distillation of volatile oBs always
imbibes some portion of the oil,, as is evident from the smell,
taste, and colour, which it acquires. It cannot, however, re-
tain above a certain quantity ; and therefore such as has bean
already used, and therefore almost saturated, may be advan-
tageously employed, instead of common water, in a second,
th/ird, or any future distillation of the same subject

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•FtAfclft*& fiW

After the dtsflflatf oft of one oi!, p^fticifT^r care should be hid
td clettti tii* Worth perfectly before it be employed tn Che dirt tt#
fcMSotf of a different stfbstauce. Some oHs, those of wormwood
tfUd aniseeds for instance, adhete to it so tenaciously as noft to
te melted out by heat, of washed off by water : the best way of
i*n*vfog these is1 to run a little spirit of wine through it.

Volatile oHs, affet they are distilled, should be suffered to
stslftd for some days', in vessels loosely covered with paper, till
they ha?e lost their disagreeable fiery odour, and become limpid;
then put them up in small bottles, which are to be kept quite
fcll, closely stopped in si cool place. With these cautions thef
*fll retain their virtues in perfection for many years.

Most of the oils mentioned above are prepared by our che*
Artists in Britain, and are easily procurable in a tolerable degree
or* perfection ; but the oils from the more expensive spices,
though still introduced among the preparations in the foreign
jjfcdrBvacopceias, are, when employed among us, usually im-
ported from abroad.

These are frequently so much adulterated, that it is not easy
06 meet with such as ait at all fit for use : nor are these adtil-
teraHfbns easily discoverable. The grosser abuses, frfdeed, ma/
te readily detected. Thus, if the oil be mixed with alcohol, if
will turn milky oil tnc addition of water ; if with expressed oils,
alcohol* will dissolve the volatile, and leave die other behind ; H
with oil of turpentine, on dipping a piece of paper in the mix.
tort, and drying it with a gentle heat, the turpentine will be
fcetrayed by its smell. But the more subtle artist* have cohtri? ed
other methods of sophistication, which elude all trials of this kf»d.

9esne have looted upon the specific gravity of oils as a certain
criterion of their genuineness. This, however, is not to be ab-
solutely depended on- ; for the genuine oils, obtained from the
4Moetttbjeot», often differ in gravity as much as those drawn
from different ones. Cinnamon and clo?es, whose oils usually
sink m water, yield, if slowly and carefully distilled, oils of
great fragrancy, which are specifically lighter than the aqueous
fluid employed in their distillation ; whilst, on the other hauo\
the last runnings of some of the lighter oik prove sometimes so
pondertfl* as to sink in water.

A* all volatile oils agree in the general properties of solubility
m spirit of wine, indissolubility in water, miscibility with water,
by the intervention of certain intermedia, volatility in the heat
of boiling water, &c., it is plain that they may be variously

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(KB SPEARMINT,

mixed with each other, or the dearer sophisticated with the
cheaper, without any possibility of discovering the abase by
aqy trials of this, kind : and, indeed, it would not be of much
advantage to the purchaser, if he had infallible criteria of the
genuineness of every individual oil. It is of as much importance
that they be good, . as that they be genuine ; for genuine oils,
from inattentive distillation, and long and careless Keeping, are
often weaker, both in smell and taste, than the common bo**
phisticatcd ones.

The smell and taste seem to be the only certain test of which
the nature of the thing will admit If a bark should have in
every respect the appearance of good cinnamon, and should bo
pjrQved indisputably to be the genuine bark of the cinnamon,
tree; yet if it want the cinnamon flavour, or has it but in a low
degree, we reject it ; and thp ca$o i$ the same with the oil. It
is only from use and habit, or comparisons with specimens of
known quality, that we can judge of the goodness, either of the
drugs themselves, or of their oils.

Most of the volatile oils, indeed, are too hot and pungent to
he tasted with safety; and the smell of the subject is so much
concentrated in them, that a small variation in this respect b
not easily distinguished ; but we can readily dilute them to any
assignable degree. A drop of the oil may be dissolved in spirit
of wine, or received on a t>it of sugar, and dissolved by that ia<*
termedium in water. The quantity of liquor which it thus iuw
pregnanes with its flavour, or the degree of flavour which it com.
municates to a certain determinate quantity, will be the measure
of the degree of goodness of the oil.

Compound Infusion op Spearmint. (Infusum Mentha
Viridis Compositum.)

Take of the leaves of spearmint, dried, two drachma;

boiling water, as rauefo as will afford six ounces of

the infusion, when filtered :
Qigest for half an hour, in a covered vessel ; strain the liquor
When cold, and then add of

Double refined sugar, two drachms ;

Oil of spearmint, three drops, dissolved in

Compound tincture of cardamutm, half an ounce. Mr*

This infusion is slightly stimulating and diaphoretic, and fern
a Very agreeable herb tea, which may be used in any quantity m
diet, or as a vehicle for more active remedies.

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-h

gfja

£SNB

PEPPERMINT.

MENTHA PIPERITA.

Ckw XIV. Didynamla. Order I. Gymnospermia.
tfiisarr. Gen. Char. Same as the last.

$fec Char. Flowers capitate : Leaves ovate, petiolate : Stamens of the
corolla very abort.

DESCRIPTION,
X(ises two feet in height. Leaves egg-shaped, serrated, pointed,
- of a dark green, standing in pairs, upon footstalks. Flowers
purple* produced in terminal spikes.
HISTORY.
This species of mint is also perennial, and a native of Britain,
where it is cultivated in very great quantities, for the sake of its
essential oil. It flowers in August and September. The leaves
Jiaye a strong, rather agreeable smell, and an intensely pungent,
$ romatic taste, resembling that of pepper, and accompanied with
a peculiar sensation of coldness.

Its predominant constituents are essential oil and camphor,
both of which rise in distillation, and are combined in what is
called oil of peppermint.

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* 470 PEPift&Miicr.

HETttCML USE.
Peppermint is principally used as a carminative and antispas-
modic. The distilled water is- a domestic remedy for flatulent
colicj and the essential oil is often given with advantage, in doses
of a few drops, in cramps of the stomach.

PREPARATIONS.
Peppermint Water. (Aqua Distillata MeBthss Piperita.)
Take of die hevfr of peppermint, dried, a potrnd and a half;

• water, as much as is sufficient to prevent horning :

Distil off a gallon, Tht* has been known to allay sickness when
nothing else would succeed, and is used in flatutaot colics. A
wine-glass may be- taken, and often repeated. It is especially
ordered with opening medicines, tfr preterit the gripings that
would otherwise accompany them.

Spirit op PfirtMiMiirtf. (Spfirtto* Mentha? Piperita;.)

Take of the herb of peppernwi*, dried, a pound and a half;

proof spirit, a gallon ;

water, sufficient to prevent burning :

Distil off a gallon* This is used for the same purposes as the
last, but in a> smaller dose.

Note. The proof spirit usually met with in the shops is very
rarely pure, or free from att mtpteasant flavour, which, though
concealed by. means of certain additions, plainly discovers itself
when employed for the preparation of distilled spirits. This
nauseous flavour does not begin to arise til) after the alcohol has
come over, which is the very time that the virtues of die ingre-
dients begin also to arise most plentifully ; and hence the liquor
receives an ungrateful taint. To this cause principally is owing
the general complaint, that the cordials of the apothecary att
less agreeable than tb<*e of the same kind prepared by the <B*
stiller; the latter being extremely curious in rectifying and pari*
fymg the spirits, which he uses for what he calls fine goods, from
alt unpleasant flarou*.

Oil op Peppermint. (Oleum Volatile Mentha; Piperita.)
This is made like the other essential oils, and is frequently
mixed with water, and this is passed off for the true distilled
peppermint water ; but it is more pungent and healing, and has
less of the virtues of the plant

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PENNYROYAL MrNT.

MENTHA PULEGIUM.

Class XIV. Dldynamia. Order I. Gynmwpermla.
EiMirr. Gbh. Char. Covolla tobeqaal, four-cleft * tbc broader J

emaiginate : Stamens erect, dtstarit.
Spec Caaa. Flowers TerticOlate: Lesmet ovate, obtaar, nbcmale :. Aap

tataer awooti, repeat, ___ ___

DESCRIPTION.

1 Bit plant rises about a foot* The leaves are ovate, obtuse,
of a bright green, and stand upon short footstalks at the joints of
the stem. Flowers in whorls at the joiuts, of a pale purple.

HISTORY.
This is also perennial, and a native of Britain. It flowers in
September. In its sensible qualities, it is warm, pungent, and
aromatic, somewhat similar to spearmint, but lesa agaeeabler -

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
This is seldom ordered by the faculty, hut is used as a
popular remedy with much confidence in obstructions of the
courses, or when these are attended with pain or hysteria. The
officinal preparations are the same as the last; a simple distilled
water, a spirit, and an essential oil.

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GROUND IVY.

GLECOMA HEDERACEA.

Clou XIV. DSdyoamia. Order I. Gymnospermla.

BttCffT. Gsor. Caa*. The Jnihen of each pair coonWe with the other

•o at to form a cross : Calyx (Ire-cleft.
Srsc. Cairn* Leaves kidoey*shaped, crenate.

DESCRIPTION.

Leatxs scolloped, hairy, in opposite pairs, baring long petioles,
which are channelled. Flowers in whorls, on short peduncles,
blue, ringent, nppcr lip bifid, erect, lower di Tided into three
lobes, middle one emargtnatc.

HISTORY.
Found common nnder hedges, and flowers in April.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
This plant forms one of the cries in London, and is drunk as
tea, as a purifier of the blood. Ray relates a remarkable cure of
a Mr. Oldacre, who by snuffing up the juice of this plant was
cured of an inreterate head-ach. His words arc: u Soccos
hujus plant* naribus attract us cephalalgiam etiam rehementissi-
man et inreteralam non lenit tan turn scd penitus aufort. Medi*
camentum hoc non satis potest laudari, t>i res ex usu sestima-
rentur, auro,«quiparandum."

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COMMON ftOREHOUND.

MARRUBIUM VULGARfc.

Class XIV. Didynamia. Order 1. Gymnospenaia. **",<-
Esssnt. Gew. Cha*. £a(pjr salver-shaped, rigid, with ten %trim: Upper

Up of the corolla bifid, linear, straight.
Spec. Char. Teeth of the calyx setaceous, uncinate.

DESCRIPTION.

1 uis plant rises a foot and a half in height. Leaves deeply
serrated, veined, wrinkled, hoary, in pairs, standing upon thick,
broad footstalks. Flowers white, in whorls. Calyx cat into
ten segments, which are hooked at the apex. Lower lip of the
corolla divided into three segments, largest segment emarginate,
upper lip two-cleft.

HISTORY.

This is a perennial plant, which grows wild on road sides
and among rubbish, and flowers in July. The leaves have a
▼cry strong, not disagreeable smell, and a roughish, very bitter
taste. Neumann got from 480 grains, 970 watery, and 30 al-
coholic extract ; and inversely, 160 alcoholic, and 140 watery.

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574 COMMON HO REWOUND.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.
It has a bitter principle, and has been recommended for pi.
tuitous asthma, coughs, and female weaknesses; and Haller
mentions his having cared a consumption by means of in
aqueous infusion. The dose is two or three ounces of the ex.
pressed juice, or the infusion of half a handful of the fresh
leaves, in a sufficient quantity of baiting water, drunk as tea. At
present the following is cttely employed : —

Candied Horehound.

Boil some horehound till the juice is extracted. Boil up sons
sugar to a feather (see p. 330, of New London Family Cook);
add your juice to the sugar, and let it boil till it is again the
same fieight. Stir it with a spoon against the sides of your sugar
pan till it begins to grow thick, then pour it into a paper case
that is dusted with fine sugar*, and cut it into squares. You may
dry the horehound, and put it into the sugar finely powdered
and sifted. Small pieces are put into the mouth, and this cer-
tainty greatly tends to allay irritation ; and probably the bitter
may have some good effect in bracing the stomach, and hence
theswhote system.

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WILD MARJORAM.

ORIGANUM VULGARE.

Clots XIV. Didynaoria. Order I. Gyatnotpennia.
Gen. Char. StroHU tetragonal, gpicate, collecting all the ca-
lyxes.
Spec Char. Spite fubfotand, paniculate, conglomerate : Arecftot ova**,
length of the calyx. .

DESCRIPTION.
Thi# plant rues about a foot and a half. The leaves are ovate,
pointed, smooth above, beneath downy, in pairs. Flowers tef.
minal, of a pale purple. Upper lip erect, bifid, lower trifid,
segments obtuse. Filaments long, with double aethers, distant
above, below forming a cross.

HISTORY.

Natire of Britain, on dry chalky hills and gravelly soils ;
lowers in July and August*

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

Distilled, with water it y felda a moderate quantity of a very
acrid, penetrating, essential oil, which has been much extolled
q* easing tootbach from a carious tooth. The dried leaves are
wed as tea, and to spa* paUtastthvejy grateful, especially to
nervous habits.

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SWEET MARJORAM.

ORIGANUM MARJORANA.

Class XIV: Didynamia. Order I. Gymnotpennia.
Emeht. Gew. Cm**. The tame aa tbe last.
8pec. Cba*. Leave* ovate, obtoie : Spikes w Orotund, compact* pabeseeaL

DESCRIPTION.
T Hit rises a foot and a half. Leaves egg-shaped, obtuse,
downy, entire, of a pale green, standing in pairs upon foot-
stalks. Flowers very small, inconspicuous, white. Bracteai
leaves numerous, compact, terminal.

HISTORY.
Native of Britain, flowers in August

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
It yields fifteen ounces of essential oil from one hundred and
fifty pounds of the recent plant. This oil, if kept long, becomes
solid, and is employed also for the toothach. In a recent state
it has been applied to cancer, and some report with advantage;
This may obviate at any rate the fottor attendant upon that creel
disease. It is chiefly used for culinary purposes, as In making
of stuffing for veal, &c.

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MOTHER OF THYME.

THYMUS SERPYLLUM.

Class XIV. Didynamia. Order I. Gymnospermia.
EttKfT. Gen. Char. The throat of the bilabiate Cafyx- endased wHh

TUii.

8f EC. Cbar. Flowers capitate : Siem repent : Leaves flat, obtuse, ciliated
at the base. ^^__>^__

DESCRIPTION.
1 ms rises from four inches to a foot in height Leaves ovate,
entire, smooth, covered with glands, fringed with hairs towards
^the base ; in pairs, upon short footstalks. Flowers purple, in
whorls around the stem, also terminal.

HISTORY.
Native of Britain on heaths and mountainous situations;
'flowers in July and August.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
This also is made into tea for nervous habits, and produces
an essential oil ; but is chiefly employed for culinary purposes.

% p

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COMMON GARDEN THYME.

THYMUS VULGARIS.

ClattXIV. Didynamia. Order I. Gymnospermta.
Essent. Gen. Cha*. Same as the last.

Spec. Char. Stem erect: Leavet revolute, ovate: Flower* vertficillate^
spicate.

DESCRIPTION.
I his rises, a foot in height. Leaves small, narrow, elliptical,
slightly indented, in pairs, standing upon short petioles. Flowers
of a pale purple.

HISTORY.
Native of the south of France; flowers from May till August

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

Like the last it abounds with an essential oil, also a native
camphor, but is employed chiefly for culinary purposes.

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C A L A M I N T.

THYMUS CALAMINTA.

Class XIV. Didynamia. Order I. Gymnofepormia.
Rssent. Gen. Char. The same as the last.

Spec. Chab. Peduncles many-flowered : Flowers axillary, as long as the
leaves.

DESCRIPTION.
1 his plant rises one or two feet, with an upright, quad ran -
gular, hairy stem. The leaves in pairs, orate, and serrated;
hairy on both sides. Calyx hairy. Corolla also hairy, of a
light violet. Upper lip lilac-coloured within, lower lip pale
within, but marked with three round dots, and a few short
streaks of a deeper hue.

HISTORY.

It is a meiissa according to Wood Title, but a thymus accord.
ing to Dr. Smith. It is native of England, and flowers during
July and August.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

The same as the last

2? '2

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COMMON BALM,

MELISSA OFFICINALIS.

Class XIV. Didynamia. Order I. Gymnospermia.
EttEifT. Gen. Char. Calyx angular, scariosc, with the upper Up a«cea4«

ing, bifid.
Spec. Char. Raceme* axillary, verticillate : Pedicels simple.

DESCRIPTION.
Stem rises two or threefeetXLeaves egg*shaped, spreading,
rough, ribbed, veined, deeply serrated, of a bright green, placed
upon long petioles. Flowers white, riogent, proceeding from
the alas of the wings.

HISTORY.
Balm is a perennial plant, which grows wild on the Alps and
Pyrennees, and is frequently cultivated in oar gardens. It has
a pleasant smell, and a weak, roughish, aromatic taste. The
young shoots have the strongest flavour; the flowers, and the
herb itself when old, or produced in very moist rich soils or
rainy seasons, are much weaker both in smell and taste.

MEDICAL USE.
It is principally used in the form of a watery infusion, which
is drunk in the manner of tea.

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DITTANY OF CRETE.

ORIGANUM D1CTAMNUS.

Class XIV. Didynamia. Order I: Gymnotpermia.
Ktf KifT. Gen. Char. Strobile foar-sided, spiked, collecting the calyxes.
Spec, Char. Inferior Leaves tomentose : Spikes nodding.

DESCRIPTION.

1 his rises about a foot. Leaves ovate, blunt, opposite, on

short footstalks, covered with soft hairs. Flowers purple.

Bracteae numerous, coloured. Corolla lipped, upper straight,

under cut into three obtuse lobes, middle one largest.

HISTORY.
Flowers from June till August ; native of the island of Candia,
where tomentose plants abound.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.
The Latin poet makes it vulnerary, a virtue so much cele*
brated in the dark ages :

— Non ilia feris incognita capris

Gramina, cum tergo volucres hiesere sagitUe. — JErr. xil. 411.

It b certainly a stimulant, and thought to be emmenagogue;
but its real virtues are but ill understood as yet

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LAVENDER.

LAVENDULA SPICA.

' Class XIV. Didynamia. Order I. Gymnospermia.
Eisrmt. Gen. Char. Calyx oyate, subdentate, supported by a bmctea:

porolla resupine : Stamina within the tube.
Spec. Char. leaves sessile, lanceolate-linear, revolute at the margins:

Spike interrupted.

DESCRIPTION.
Plant bushy, flowering stem erect, often rising four or fife
feet. Leaves numerous, long, narrow, without footstalks,
mostly opposite, of a whitish green colour. Flowers in ter-
minal spikes, of a bright blue. Corolla ringent. Upper tip
cut into two divisions, lower lip into three.

HISTORY.
Lavender is a well known, small, shrubby, perennial plant,
a native of the south of Europe, but frequently cultivated in our
gardens for the sake of its perfume. There are two varieties.
The flowers of both have a fragrant, agreeable smell, and t
warm, pungent, bitterish taste ; the broad-leaved variety is the
strongest in both respects, and yields in distillation thrice as
much essential oil as the other ; its oil is also hotter, and sped-

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LAVENDER. 583

Ically heavier : hence, in the southern parts of France, where
both kinds grow wild, this only is used for the distillation of
what is called oil of lavender. The narrow- leaved is the variety
commonly met with in our gardens. It flowers from July till
September.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

It is a warm cordial, and is . used in hysteria, lowness, and
other nervous affections.

OFFICINAL PREPARATIONS.
Spirit of Lavender.
From two pounds of the flowering spikes of lavender, accord,
ing to the Edinburgh college, and from a pound and a half, ac-
cording to the London, this spirit is to be formed. It is used
as an analeptic perfume ; also taken inwardly, in case of faint-
ing, from a drachm to half an ounce.

Compound Spirit of Lavender. (Tinctura Lavendulat
Composita.)

Take of the spirit of lavender, three pounds ;
' ■ spirit of rosemary, one pound ;

cinnamon, half an ounce;

■ nutmeg, the same ;

red sanders, three drachms :

Digest for ten days and then strain off. This is often taken
upon sugar, and is a salutary cordial, far preferable to drams,
which are too often had recourse to by persons feeling a great
sinking, or depression of the spirits.

Lavender Water.

The common mode of preparing this is to put three drachms
of the essential oil of lavender, and one drachm of the essence
of ambergris, into one pint of spirits of wine*

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WOOD BETONY.

BETONICA OFFICINALIS.

Class XIV. Didynamia. Order I. Gymne»pennia.

Essbnt. Gen. Char. Superior Lip of the Corolla flat, rising: Tube cylin-
drical : Stamina the length of the throat.

8pbc. Char. Spike interrupted: Upper Up of the Corolla entire,- hwer
Lip notched. —^aaumm^*—

DESCRIPTION.
This plant rises a foot in height. The stem is square, and
hairy. Upper leaves on short footstalks, the lower on long,
opposite, hairy. Flowers in spikes, composed of several whorls,
of a parple coloar. Bracteas placed under the flowers*

HISTORY,

Native of Britain, common in woods and heaths, flowering
in August and Sptember. -r

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

iC The description of the fSztwiwri by Dioscorides," says t)f.
Woodville, " applies equally to many of the other verticillated
plants ; he also states it to be purgative: hence it seems doubtful
if by that name he meant our plant." But its root both vomits
and purges, taken in the smallest dose.

Antonius Musa, physician to the emperor Augustus, filled a
whole volume with enumerating its many virtues; it cured forty-
seven different disorders ; and hence the proverb still existing,
" You have more virtues than betony."

Hildanus boasts, that by giving two drachms to the dose he has
cured the gout in others and himself. Cullen allows it to be a
good cephalic ; and Scopoli says, that he experienced himself its
good effects. This plant merits a better investigation from mo-
dern physicians than it has hitherto received.

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CREEPING BUGLE.

AJUGA REPTANS.

Class XIV. Didynamla. Order I. Gymnospermia.
Emewt. Gcw. Char. Superior Up of the Corolla small, emarginate.

Stamina longer than the superior lip.
Spec. Char. Stem single, having creeping stolones.

DESCRIPTION.

Stem a foot, quadrangular, at the base stoloniferous, prostrate,
creeping. .Leaves opposite, obovate, obtuse, spreading. Ver-
ticils many-flowered. Corolla blue, with a white throat

a I STORY.

Native of Britain, in moist meadows, pastures, and woods ;
flowers from April to July.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

This plant has some degree of astringency, bnt its Tirtues are
as yet bat slightly ascertained. . In sore throats, without much
constitutional derangement, it is said to be a specific. " In an.
gina absque febre valet decoctum." Memoires de l'Academie dea
Sciences, anno 1754, p. 514.

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WATER GERMANDER.

. TEUCRIUM SCORDIUM.

Class XIV, Didynamta. Order I. Gymoospennia.

Essekt. Gcw. Char. No superior lip of the Corolla, beyond the bate two-
parted.

Spec. Char. Leaves oblong, senile, dentate-serrate : Flowers paired, ax-
illary, on peduncles : Stem diffused.

DESCRIPTION.
This plant rises to a foot in height Leaves in pairs, serrated,
hairy, oblong, of a dusky green, sessile. Flowers in whorls,
at the base of the lea? es, often two together. Upper lip as if
pone ; under lip long, of a pnrple colour, dentatetLon the sidss.
HISTORY. *

It is native of England, and grows in marshy situations, flow-
ering in July and August. The leaves possess both the smdl
and taste of garlic.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.

It is recommended by Galen as an antipestilential, who relates
this virtue was found out by the bodies of the slain not equally
corrupting where this plant abounded :— u Cadavera queeaaqoe .
supra scordium forte fortuna ceciderant, multo minus alns cos*,
putruisse, ea praesertim ex parte quas herbam contigerat" Uk ■
de Antidot. The great Boerhaave says, that outwardly applied
it stops gangrene ; and we arc told that it was used with great
success in the plague which rages in Turkey. Chant de Petit,
p. 132.

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COMMON BASIL.

CLINOPODIUM VULGARE.

Clogs XIV. Didynamia. Order I. Gymnospermia.
Esaeht. Gen. Char. Calyx bilabiate : Involucre of many bristles under

the whorl.
Spec. Char. Vertkilli hispid: Br act tat setaceous: Pedicels branching:

Leave* obscurely serrated.

DESCRIPTION.
1 he stem rises about a foot. The leaves are in pairs, ovate,
rather obtuse, obscurely serrated.^ Verticilli terminal, and ax-
illary. The involucres very narrow, shorter than the' calyx:
Flowers a reddish purple, at the throat hirsute, having round
segments.

HISTORY. ]

Native of Britain, under hedges and in thickets, on a calca-
reous soil ; flowers in August.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

It is aromatic, and, like other plants of that class, invigorates
the system, and produces good in leucophlegmatic habits, espe-
cially chlorosis, or the green sickness, and the king's evil.

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COMMON EYEBRIGHT.

EUPHRASIA OFFICINALIS.

Class XIV. Didynamia. Order II. Angiospermia.
Esieht. Gen. Char. Corolla four-cleft, cylindrical: Capsule two-ceded.
Spec. Char. Leaves ovate, acutely dentate.

DESCRIPTION.
Stalk a few inches in height. Leaves sessile, opposite, deeply
serrate^ rather hairy. Flowers sessile, arising from the ate of
the leaves. Corolla two-lipped, white, streaked with purple
lines. Upper lip erect, bifid; under three-lobed, emarginate;
middle lobe tinged with yellow.

HISTORY.
Common in barren meadows, producing flowers from July
till September*

MEDICAL VIRTUES.
The juice mixed with water is stimulant, and in dimness of
sight, or weakness of the eyes, has done good. Haller boasts
of its virtue, where valerian has also been given inwardly.

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CHASTE TREE.

VITEX AGNUS CASTUS.

Clou XIV. Didynamia. Order II. Angiospermia.
Essent. Gen. Char. Calyx five- toothed: Corolla, limb six-cleft: Berry

four-seeded.
Spec. Char. Leaves digitate, entire : Spikes verticillate.

DESCRIPTION.

1 his tree, or shrub, divides into numerous branches. Leaves

opposite, on long footstalks, separated into five portions, which

are long, narrow, and pointed. Flowers in whorls, of a bright

red, labiate, divided into four segments, the lowest largest.

HISTORY,

Native of Sicily, but braves our winters; flowers in October.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.
As there are provocatives to procreation, as shell-fish, eggs,
and roots of orchises made into salep for the male, and spare
diet and the use of steel for the female, so it is possible the
chaste tree may have a contrary effect ; and hence the seeds have
been called Piper monachorum (Monk's pepper), who flew to
them when they found the spirit to be willing, but the flesh weak.

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FOXGLOVE.

DIGITALIS.

Class XIV. Didynamia. Order II. Angtospermia.
£s8F.vt. Gen. Char. Calyx five-parted: Corolla bell-shaped, five-defti

bellied: Capsules ovate, two-celled.
Spec. Char. Leaves of the calyx ovate, acute: Segments of the corofl*

obtuse : Upper JJp entire.

DESCRIPTION.
I he stalk is erect, tapering, rises four or frre feet. LcaYes
large, oval, wrinkled, veined, on short winged footstalks, dotfflj
underneath ; the bracteas attendant on the flowcrstalks are small)
spear-shaped, and sessile. The flowers always depend oa ont
side; these are purple, bell-shaped, marked internally with little
dark-coloured spots placed in whitish rings, and long hairs de-
fend the entrance of the tube; hence no insects ever approaci

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FOXGLOVE,, 591

this flower. The flowerstalks vary in length ; at first they de-
pend tike the flowers, afterwards become erect, when they ele-
vate a two-celled capsule containing many blackish seeds, ex*
posed to observation by having the long style with its bifid
stigma attached to it, and the segments of the calyx standing
open.

HISTORY.

This most elegant plant is found common all over England in
dry sandy soils, also more frequent by the sides of hedges ; flowers
in July, and seeds in August ; it is called in French gent de Nitre
Dome, from its corolla having a leathery substance.

MEDICAL USE.

No plant has been more esteemed as a popular remedy, and
till of late little attended to by the faculty, and still its many
powerful virtues are yet unknown. The reader will be, per*
haps, surprised to find the following account in the Theatrum
Botanicum of old Parkinson, in chap. Ixxxii. p. 653, when dis-
coursing on this plant : —

VIRTUES.

u The Italians have an nsnall proverbe with them concerning
this herbe, called by them aralda, which is, Aralda tulte pioghe
salda: Aralda salveth all sores: for they use it familiarly to
hcale any fresh or grecne wound or cnt, the leaves being but
bruised and bound too, and sometimes also they use the juycein
old sores to dense them, dry up their moysture, and heale them
the more speedily, which it performeth by the bitter quality
therein, whereby it is found to be heating and drying, and
densing withall ; so that whensoever there is neede of a rarefy-
ing or extenuating of thick toughe tiegme and viscous humours
troubling the chest or stomacke, the decoction or juice hereof
made up with some sugar or honey is availeable, as also to dense
&nd purge the body both upwards and downewards sometimes,
of tough flegme and clammy humonrs, and to open the obstruc-
tions of the liver and spleene; and yet notwithstanding that
these qualities are found to bee in it, there are but few physi-
tions in our times that put it to these uses, but is in a manner
wholly neglected : it hath beene found by late experience to be
availeable for the king's evil I, the herbe bruised and upplyed to
the place, or the juice made up into an ointment and used there-
on : audit hath becne of later experience fouud also to be efTec

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592 FOXGLOVE,

toall against the falling sicknesse, that divers have been* eured
thereby ; for after the taking of the decoction of two handfalb
thereof, with four ounces of polu'pody, of the oake bruised made
in ale, they that hare beene troubled with that disease 26* jeans,
and ha? e fallen once in a weeke or two or three times in a moneta,
have not falleu once in 14 or 15 moneths, that is, until! tit
writing hereof, which I thinke may be sayd to be an absolute
cure, not to be presumed that after so long stay it should re
turne againe."

Old Gerard, p. 791, says:

" Foxgloue boiled in water or wine, and drunken, doth cat
and consume the thickc toughnesse of grossc and slimic flegme
and naughty humours ; it openeth also the stopping of the liner,
splaene, and milt, and of other inward parts.

" The same taken in like manner, or boiled with honied
water or sugar, doth scoure and dense the brest, ripeneth and
bringeth forth tough and clammie flegme."

Ray, in chap. v. Do Digital], p. 767, speaking of the vir-
tues of the foxglove, says :

" Digitalis herba amctica est Somerseti Angliae rustica turht
hujus decocto febricitantibus purgationes et interdum superptr-
gationcs et vomit ion es humidioribus alvo molitur. Lob. Ob.

" Parkinsonus efficacem esse contra epilepsiam aninnat, si duo
ejus manipuli cum J iv. polypodii quercini in cerevisia deco-
quatur, et decoctum propinetur. Qui enim viginti et sex anaos
continuos eo morbo laborarant ita ut singulis mensibus bis t£rre
caderent, hujus decocti usu penitus liberati sunt, saltern per in-
tegros sedecim menses ne unum quidem paroxysmum sensenmt
Vetum medicamentum hoc robusiioribus ionium corwenil, siqvidm
violenier admodwn purgai el vomiiiones immanes exciiat.

" Strumosis conducere triiam et impositam succumve ejus ia
unguento experientia com per turn est Park, Novi plores (inquit
D. Batesius in MS. nondum edito) qui in strujnosis tumoribas
digitalis floribus valde confidunt, quos quidam in butyro MaaM,
quot possunt immittentes curant insolandos per aestaiem. ABi
cum adipe porcino miscent, et sub terra defodiunt per qaado-
gintadies, utrique flores cum unguento reservant, una Hatas
inducunt et tumoribns applicant : hosce tumoribus discutknda
Tel maturandis, ulceribus detergendis vel explendis sufficere fo»
runt sc expertos. Quinta et sexto quoque die diacarthamo par*
gant, interim continue decoctum herb» Robertiaiue pnebeot:

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FOtOLOtE. 593

pars ulceris rubens parte ungaeati teaulore UKnatnr : part autem
crassior ungaenti lioCeamini imponatur, quod naoqoam mutetur.
Saat qui novella et primi erumpentia plant* germina acciptuftt,
eorumqtte succuni expressum ia butyro coquant ad sued con*
sumptionem, atqae hoc novo succo addito bis tirwe repetunt

" N. 1. Oportet at paretur sufficiens quantitas unguenti eo
anni tempore quo flores haberi possunt, cum nonnunquam in.*
teger annus aut eo amplius ad coram perficiendam requiratur.

M N. % Qoam? is ulcera prime majora fiant ne metuas, si-
quidem ungnentum postquam hum ores omnes absumpsent et ex*
siccaverit, ea demum sanabit & cute obducet

" N. 3. Unguentom hoc in scrophulis humidis et puri ma*
nantibas precipufe utile e*t, in siccis parum valet ; sed ad basU
licon et pnecipitatum coofugiendum. Habui ex relatione viri
amicissimi, turn rei herbariae turn totius medicine peritissimi
IX E. Hulse.

" Proverbinm estltalicum, Aralda tuttt le piagke salda ; i. e«
Digitalis sanat omnia vulnera." ' Digitalis cures e? ery wound.9

Salmon gi? es the foxglove the foltowing very high encomium :

" This specific," says he, in the New London Dispensatory,
" which transcends all the medicines here mentioned; and many
others besides, is the herb foxglore. A weak decoction of the
herb in water, or in wine, or in half water and half wine, may
jbe drunk as ordinary drink ; and of the juice of the herb and
flowers may be made a rob dr syrup, with honey, which being
taken, three spoonsful at a time, first in the morning fasting)
second, at ten in the morning ; thirdly, at four in the afternoon ;
suid lastly, at going to bed, will restore, where the patient is
not past cure, beyond all expectation. It cures a phthisis or
nicer of the lungs when all other medicines have failed, and the
sick are esteemed past cure : but as it is a very strong medica-
ment, and emetic withal, so it ought to be given with discretion*
not to transcend the strength of the patient, for then irtstead of
doing good it may do hurt; arid therefore the syrup dtfght to
be taken at first in a lesser dose, and to bcl increased as you see
cause. It opens the breast and lungs, frees -them from phlegm,
and cleanses the ulcer and heals it when all other remedies act
without effect. I have known it to do wonders, and speak
here from a long experience. Persons in deep consumptions,
and given over by all physicians, have by the use of this herb
bean strangely recovered, and to perfaady as to grow fat again*"

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SM JOXGL0TZ*

FromddinoonaciidafioftllisfelaMwnlliHC ,aeoatn-

Baker's daughter, and often, ia consumptions, collect the fresh
plant and force out the juke, and take the enormous dose here
recommended, three spoonsful (dessert-spoonsful), four times a
day, and with manifest advantage.

This remedy is found advantageously employed in the follow-
ing diseases:

1. In inflammatory diseases.

The pulse is sometimes remarkably diminished by the use of
digitalis, and sometimes as remarkably resisting to the powers of
this remedy. We hare seen the pulse sink down in a patient at
Guy's Hospital to thirteen beats in a minute! and in other In-
stances as much as three ounces of the tincture has been takes
without the smallest alteration in the pulse. In severe colds,
and inflammations of the lungs, we have ordered the digitalis ia-
stead of bleeding : also in measles. Considering that scarlet fe?er
is a mixture of high inflammation and putrid diathesis, the one
Tunning into the other, this remedy was tried by as in large
doses, as tweoty drops of the tincture of digitalis with tea drops
of antimonial wine, in children of twelve years of age and under;
and in a large experience in the St James's charity school, sad
in private practice, we have had abundant reason to approve of
this discovery, whereby even in the most desperate cases nose
have died. An account of these cures, with some experiments
made with the foxglove by two of our pupils, was given to the
Bolt Court Medical Society, and may be seen in their Memoirs.

2. In active hemorrhages, and in phthisis*

Here the foxglove does essential advantage; it lowers the pnlw
without at the same time diminbhing the strength, and should be
given in twenty drops of the tincture four times a day.

A Letter to Dr. Beddoes, containing Observations on the Use 4
Digitalis in Pulmonary Consumption, with two Cases in fW
it proved permanently successful. By Nathan Drake, M.s%
Member of the Royal Medicinal Society oj Edinburgh.

Sir, In a disease so generally fatal as phthisis pulmonalis, ano"
for which, though frequently sought for, no certain remedy bet
hitherto been discovered, H seems the duty of every inteJHgeat
physician to pursue, if possible, an original plan, to ascertain
the effects of new medicines, or to re-apply those which, thotgn
possessing strong powers, caprice, ignorance and apprehension

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FOXGLOVE. 595

have prematurely laid aside. To your indefatigable perseverance
In the cultivation and application of chemical science, we are
Indebted for a novel class of remedies, which bids fair to remove
or alleviate some of the most distressing complaints incident to
humanity. To the disease under consideration you have parti-
cularly turned your attention, and sought for assistance, not
only from pneumatic chemistry, but from every quarter which
held forth the prospect of aid. It is therefore with peculiar
pleasure that, complying with your request, I now communicate
to you two cases of phthisis, in which the digitalis purpurea of
Linnaeus has been employed with permanent success. Though
the exhibition of digitalis in consumption be not absolutely new,
yet I trust the mode in which I have administered it has a claim
to that appellation ; and the facts brought forward prove, what
assuredly is of vast importance, that by the use of this medicine
the pulse may be lowered to forty strokes in a minute, without
any previous sickness, and the depression continued for weeks
together with the happiest consequences.

As every physician is supposed maturely to weigh his motives
for the administration of any medicine, and to form some theory
of its operation at least, and probable effects, it may not be un-
necessary in thb place briefly to state my views in prescribing
this plant in cases so apparently desperate.

It has been lately maintained by the most celebrated physio*
logists, among whom John Hunter stands foremost, that pus is
a secreted fluid, the consequence of certain diseased motions of
the extremities of the blood-vessels ; it has been likewise ascer-
tained, that hectic fever arises only from the matter of an open
nicer ; that what is termed laudable pus, when secluded from the
air, is neither capable of creating fever, nor, except by its gra-
rity, can it irritate the parts on which it rests. When pus, how-
ever, is exposed to atmospheric air, it rapidly attracts oxygen,
an acid of a peculiar kind is generated, and hectic fever, the ef-
fect of the absorption of aerated matter, is produced. Now as
an ulcer of the lungs is perpetually exposed to a stream of air,
and of course an ichorous poison continually forming by the
anion of oxygen with secreted matter, an important curative
process would seem to arise from promoting absorption so ra-
pidly from the surface of the diseased parts, that the pus shall
lie taken up as soon as secreted, and consequently its combma-
A*a with oxygen prevented. If at the same time the medicine

2q 2

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506 #OXGLOVB.

employed to promote absorption should so powerfully retard
the motion of the heart and circulating fluids, that the irritating
and morbid action of the extremities of the blood-vessels, and
therefore secretion as its immediate effect, should be considerably
diminished, if not altogether suspended, another most salutary
purpose would be accomplished. To the cautious and continued
use of digitalis, Sir, I looked for these consequences, though
whether I s Mould be able to render them sufficiently permanent
to promote a cure, was necessarily a matter of great doubt It
was my wish also, as I have mentioned above, to effect these
changes without any previous sickness, concluding, that should
I be able gradually to depress the circulation, nausea, as a link
in the chain of effects, might be excluded, and absorption, toge.
thcr with a suppression of morbid action and secretion, still be
the result.

It is a well-known fact, and probably arising from an indis-
• soluble association between the stomach and the heart, that the
pulse generally sinks in consequence of nausea; and as subse-
quent to the retardation of the action of the heart, absorption
frequently occurs, it has been supposed that nausea, a diminu-
tion of arterial motion, and absorption, are mutually aod neces-
sarily related to each other, and that were the first of these phe-
nomena abstracted, the latter, viz. absorption, would not be
produced. It has therefore been usually attempted to promote
pulmonary absorption through the medium of this affection of
the stomach, whence the prescription of emetics, of sailing at
sea, and of swinging, to induce vertigo and sickness ; and the
digitalis has been hitherto exhibited with this view. The cases
annexed, however, will prove that the circulation may be safely,
powerfully, and perhaps more permanently retarded, independent
of auy affection of the stomach, and that absorption as certainly
follows a depression thus procured, as when sickness has ushered
it in.

The prqmration of digitalis best adapted to my purpose, ap-
peared to be the saturated tincture; and in the first case I coav
menced with but fifteen drops twice a day, in the second twenty.
Mr. Marris gradually increased the dose of tincture until he took
one hundred drops : this quantity was first ordered on the IVk
of July, when the pulse beat but fifty strokes in the minute,
and was continued for nine days, when his pnlse dropped to
forty.' Beyond this depression I thought K unsafe to proceed.

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FOXGLOVE. 597

and therefore immediately diminished the dose of tincture. During
the interval between the22d of June and the 17th of July, though
the dose of the digitalis had in this period gradually attained to
its maximum,, not the least sickness occurred, nor any one sym-
ptom that could lead to apprehension. On the 17th, however,
a considerable intermission of the pulse took place, and conti-
nued for better than a fortnight, though without occasioning to
the patient the smallest uneasy sensation. In Mr. Grimes's case
the dose of tincture was pushed to ninety-six drops without in.
convenience, and his pulse fell to forty, yet no intermission was
felt; nausea, however, and vomiting after his meals -supervened
the day after this quantity had been taken ; these continued four
or five days, and were only alleviated by the omission of the
digitalis*

Here therefore, in one instance, one hundred drops, in an.
other ninety-six of the saturated tincture, were, by gradually in.
creased doses, safely introduced into the system of vejy debUi-
tated patients, before either sickness or irregularity of the circu-
lation appeared ; and even then these symptoms proved of little
moment, as the first was speedily removed, and the second pro-
duced no inconvenience. During this period all the symptoms
of irritation and fever, cough, pain, and dyspncea daily grew .
better, and at length altogether retired. On the quantity and
quality of the expectorated matter, the digitalis soon exerted a
most remarkable effect, either promoting its absorption, or di-
minishing its secretion, or perhaps both, in a rapid manner,
whilst at the same time it deprived it of its factor.

What, however, I consider as of most importance in these
cases, and to which, perhaps, we are alone indebted for a cure,
is the demonstration of the possibility of retarding the circulation
for weeks together, by the use of this medicine. In Mr. Marris's
case the pnlse never ro3e beyond fifty from July 12th to August
16th, nor in Mr. Grimes's from September 17th to October 8th]
How greatly every salutary purpose, every curative intention,
must have been forwarded by this permanent depression of the
circulating powers, must be obvious to every medical reader, uor
will the limits of a letter allow me to expatiate further on the
subject ; I shall only add, that the theory laid down, and the
facts now given, will, if I mistake not, mutually illustrate each
other.
One circumstance of disparity in the two cafes as to the ope-

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598 FOXGLOVE.

ration of the digitalis, should be mentioned ; ft being necessary
with Mr. Marris, after the pnlse had sunk to forty.four, daily
to persist in the use of a dose of the tincture, to maintain the
depression ; and one day when the pulse was below fifty, from •
wish to ascertain the result, the two doses of the tincture were
omitted, and the pulse next morning beat 119; whereas in Mr.
Grimes's case, though the digitalis was entirely omitted on the
24th of September, in consequence of the nausea, on the 2d of
October the pulse had not risen beyond 48.

The activity of this medicine is so great, that in cases where
much debility is present, the constant attendance of a person
well apprized of its mode of operation and effects, should be
considered as absolutely requisite. Though Mr. Marris was at
some distance from me, and I had not an opportunity of seeing
him daily, yet was I free from any anxiety on that account, as
the gentleman with whom he resided, the Re?. John Htfdyard,
.of Monks- Eleigh, was not only well versed in medical science,
but paid the most unwearied attention, both to the progress of
the symptoms, and the exhibition and effects of the tincture.

I may, I think, without hesitation affirm, that an early exhi-
bition of the saturated tincture in consumption, will in general
prove successful ; and even when the disease is far advanced,
provided the patient has but strength sufficient left to endure a
gradual depression of the circulation, a result equally fortunate
may be expected. That this can be done, even in circumstances
of debility, to an extent adequate to effect a cure, and without
either sickness, languor, or loss of appetite, the cases now ap-
pended will satisfactorily attest. I have only to wish, Sir, they
may contribute somewhat toward promoting the great and humane
design in which you have so long and so laudably been engaged.
I am, Sir, with great respect, &c.

Nathan Darn.
Hadleign, 8uffolk, Feb. SI, 1799.

Letter from Dr. Fowler, of Salisbury, on the Cure of Consumptm.

I send you (to dispose of as you may think proper) tie resalt
of most of the trials which I have hitherto made of the digitaii
in cases of pulmonary consumption. As I began to give it more
from a dissatisfaction with the remedies usually employed in this
disease, than from any very sanguine expectation of success, I
took no notes oi many of the cases in which I fiistnsed it. Wki

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rOJCGLOYB* Q89

respect to these I can therefore supply 7011 with little more than
the dose of the medicine, and its more prominent effects.

Observing, however, that it in no case did harm ; that, oathe
contrary, it almost uniformly relieved the most distressing sym-
ptoms of the disease ; and that in some it appeared even to have
effected a care, I began to collect, as carefaliy as I could, all
the material circumstances of the cases in which it had been
given ; and the instances of its good effects, which I am now to
lay before you, will, I hope, induce you to avail yourself of the
many opportunities which mast occur to you, for giving this
subject a full and accurate investigation.

As I had frequently seen large doses of the digitalis given by
•then, and had myself still more frequently given it in dropsical
cases, without ever observing any of those uncontrollable and
dangerous effects which are said to deter many from its use, my
mind was perfectly at ease as to its probable effects in phthisis,
and the more so as its power of repressing arterial action, and
inducing debility, from which we have most to apprehend in
dropsy, was the very quality from which, properly directed, I
hoped to derive most advantage here*

My attention was indeed first directed to it as a remedy likely
to be useful in phthisis, by its almost uniform effect of rendering
the action of the arteries more slow than natural, at the same
time that it appears to excite that of the absorbents. It has
long been known, that diseased parts of the body may be re*
moved by depriving them of all supply of blood from the atte-
ries ; and it is now known, that where this cannot with safety
fee attempted to so full an extent, on account of the intimate
connection subsisting between the part to be removed, and such
as we wish should remain, that the same effect may be produced
by diminishing to a certain degree the arterial supply of the part,
at the same time that we leave the action of the absorbents hi
foH force. This is the purpose so ably effected by Mr. Hunter's
scientific operation for the core of popliteal aneurism : and I
confess that I was not, and that I still am not without hope
that something analogous to this may be effected by the opera*
tion of digitalis on tubercles in the substance of the lungs. Byt
my expectations of success had a better foundation than reason*
log d prion.

There was good ground to believe that Dr. Darwin had cured
one case of phthisis by a strong decoction of digitalis.

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600 POKGLOTB.

Dr. Ferriar had certainly cared by an infusion of this
four cases of hemoptoe, a disease nearly connected with con-
sumption ; and in a note to p. 18 of his second volume, he says
expressly, that he has " repeatedly stopped the progress of in-
cipient consumption by administering digitalis, when the patient
was too much weakened by preceding disease to bear die natal
methods of lessening the impetus of the circulating system."

Dr. Withering's opinion of it (notwithstanding his expressed
wish that It may be further tried in this disease) was not, it is
true, Tery encouraging ; bat it should be recollected, that eras
wjth him it succeeded completely in one case (No. cxx.), that it
relieved another (No. xl.) very far advanced, and that the re-
maining cases in which it was given by him were lost before re-
coarse was had to4he digitalis.

Case 1. The first case of consumption, in which I had aa op-
portunity of observing the effects of digitalis, was in a girl re-
ceived into the Stafford infirmary, under the care of my friend
Dr. Edward Alexander, at the beginning of the year 1794* I
have no notes of this case, but I perfectly recollect that he*
symptoms impressed both of us with the opinion of its being ha*
dpient consumption. Her cough was particularly troublesome,
and her pulse very quick. The suggestion of the digitalis, I
believe, came from me. She took it in powder, I think gr. L
two or three times a day. Her recovery was so rapid, and op*
parently complete, as not a little to please and surprise both of
us. What afterwards became of her I had no opportunity qf
knowing.

The following cases of out-patients, for whom I had prescribed
(he digitalis at the Salisbury infirmary, are by no means so fell
and detailed as I could wish them ; but the unfavourable drcum.
stances under which medicines are administered to this very in*
digest class of patients, their exposure to causes perpetaally
counteracting the effects of remedies, and renewing their com*
plaints, together with the irregularity of their attendance, held
out but little encouragement to note down the history of i
individual's disease at the time I began to give the
Finding, however, that all of them gave a favourable report of
the effects of this remedy, that it uniformly freed them from the
sensation of oppressive tightness about the chest, quieted their
coagh, rendered the pulse more slow, and, wherever hectic fever
and profuse night sweats had taken place, put a stop tq thenj;

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roxoLovB* 6DI

I endeavoured to aid my own recollection of them by the best ac*
counts which I could collect from themselv es. The doses of the
remedies, and the periods during which they were used, are ac-
curately transcribed from the books of the infirmary.— Then
follow the case*, which it would be needless here to detail; they may
be seen in Contributions to Physical and Medical Knowledge, pra-
ejpally from the West of England, collected by Dr. Beddoes.

The late Dr. Beddoes, in relating his own experience, says :
In five cases of imminent or incipient consumption, the use ofc
digitalis has either removed the complaint, or, by producing the
most decided good effects, affords hope of success*

A young lady, with light eyes and hair, of very feeble con*
formation, narrow chested, with ele? ated shoulder blades, and
a very quick pulse, complained of a hard cough, which had sue*
eeeded to a short necking cough, of shooting pains in the chest,
and more fixed pain in the left side, shortness of breath, chilli-
Bess, and evening fererishness, succeeded by night sweats. She
had lately begun to expectorate, but I was not permitted to see
Ike expectoration. Small doses of digitalis continued for three
weeks, commonly at the rate of three grains of the powder in
the twenty-four hours, removed all these symptoms. No sick-
ness was produced ; on the contrary, the appetite was restored
under the use of the medicine.

Two other cases, nearly similar, terminated equally favourably 2
only that in these sickness was produced ; in one by twenty-eight
drops of the tincture, in the other by thirty-five ; and it was
accessary to keep the doses between twenty and thirty.

Two other cases are in progress, continues Dr. Beddoes, and
•hall be fully related hereafter. In one the attack was by far
the mtfst severe I have ever known. After a hard cough at-
tended by decline of flesh and strength, constant indisposition,
distinct etening feter-fit, with pulse at 130, but no expectora-
tion, a most violent pain seised the left side, which rendered
coughing excruciatingly painful. The patient's habit, weak
pulse, and general loss of strength, appeared to me to prohibit
general bleeding; and topical was resisted. I trusted, there-
fore, to the tincture of digitalis. This in a month has removed
the cough entirely ; has much reduced the evening exacerbation
of lever, which io spite of two doses of the tincture raises the
poise to 90, though it be 60 in the morning. The pain of the
si4e continues, and mixes a good deal of anxiety with hope. It
}l boirever less.

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60S FOXGLOYB.

The dose was gradually raised from fifteen to thirty drops
twice a day ; but thirty produced bilious vomiting. More than
twenty cannot be taken without considerable nausea, vertigo, or
indistinctness of vision. In all these eases except the first, I
found it impossible to avoid great nausea, and to keep the pulse
below 8a It would be'60 in the morning, and near 100 in the
evening. I suspect that in people of feeble habit, the digitalis
will lose its effect on the pulse sooner than in others; and I
sjappose the above hypothesis applicable to the fact.

No other medicine, except an occasional aperient, was pre-
scribed. Great sleepiness seemed the gradation between the or-
dinary state and depression. The patient observed that it was
« the most sleepy thing she had ever taken.4'

The other ease now in progress is probably not a case of tu-
bercular consumption. The rest I take to be certainly so ; and
I apprehend the great efficacy of the digitalis will be experienced
in tubercular consumption.

As far as my own experience has gone, which/ has been very
extensive, this remedy I have found surpass all others in spitting
of blood, as well as in consumption, measles, and scarlet fever.

8. /* anasarams and drop$k*l qtfmwu.

That a medicine so powerfully instrumental in retarding the
circulation, so liable to produce oppressive sickness, together
with pain and giddiness in the head, should have been frequently
attended with alarming effects, and esteemed by many even as
an absolute poison, is not to be wondered at, especially when it
is considered that among the poor, where it was at first chiefly
nsed, its incautious exhibition would naturally lead to this con*
elusion. Even Ray, Boerhaave, and Haller, mention its ope-
ration as generally deleterious ; what, however, is truly extra-
ordinary, none of the old writers, nor any of the moderns, I
believe, previous to the year 1770, have mentioned its peculiar
property as a diuretic, confining themselves* principally to its
administration in epilepsy and serophulous ulcerations. Yet
whilst the digitalis was generally known in these disorders, al-
though seldom regularly practised, yet ks diuretic effects were
wholly overlooked ; and Dr. Withering has the undoubted ctaim
of having first noticed this virtue j and the numerous cases re-
lated by him, and since by other practitioners, hare afforded in-
contestable evidence of its curative virtues in these disorders.
From a icry extensive experience he draws the following ecu.

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fOXGLOV*. 409

elusion : It seldom succeeds in men of great natural strength,
tense fibre, warm skin, florid complexion, or with a tight cordy
poise; on the contrary, the pulse must be feeble or intermit,
ting, the countenance pale, the lips livid, the skin cold, the
swollen belly soft and fluctuating, the anasarcous limbs readily
pitting under the pressure of the finger. Under these circum-
stances the digitalis seldom fails of producing a cure, but seems
peculiarly adapted where there is water in the chest.

This eminent physician prefers the leaves to the other parts
of the plant, and directs that the stalks and midribs of the leaves
should be thrown away, and that the remaining part should be
carefully dried either in the sun or before the fire ; and he says,
that if they be well dried, they rub down into a fine powder of a
beautiful green colour ; and that they may be either given in sub-
stance or in infusion — when given in substance, the dose is from
one to three grains, either by itself or mixed with aromatics, or
made up into pills with soap or with gum ammoniac.

When it is given in infusion, a drachm of the dried leaves Is
to be infused for four hours in eight ounces of boiling water,
and then the liquor to be strained through a cloth, and an ounce
of any spirituous water is to be added to it. An ounce of this
infusion is a mean dose for an adult person, which may be re-
peated twice in the day, or once in eight hours ; though with
some particular patients one dose is sufficient in the day. Dr.
Withering observes, that when the foxglove is given in large
doses, frequently repeated, it occasions sickness, vomiting, purg-
ing, giddiness, confused vision, an increased secretion of urine,
and sometimes an inability to retain it; a slow pulse, so as not
to beat above thirty-five strokes in the minute; cold sweat, and
even syncope : when given in small doses he has found it pro*
duce many of these symptoms, but in a slighter degree.

Sometimes the sickness does not take place till hours after the
exhibition of the medicine; the discharge by urine at times ac-
companies the sickness ; at other times it is checked by it; and
-sometimes it does not come on till some days after.

The sickness occasioned by the digitalis is different from that
occasioned by other medicines ; after ceasing, it will return by
intervals as violent as before, for three or four days.

Dr. Withering further observes, that when adults take either
-the infusion or the powder, its use ought to be continued till it
acts either upon the kidneys or the stomach, or the bowels or

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004 FOXOLOYB.

the pulse; bat thai at soon as it affects any of these organs, its
farther use oaght to be stopt ; by which means the patient will
neither safer from its exhibition, nor the practitioner be disap.
pointed in his expectations.

During its operation the patient should drink freely; and if
the water of the dropsy should be evacuated quickly, and in
large quantity, in anasarcous and ascitical cases, it becomes ne-
cessary to put bandages round the patient's body, in order to
make a proper compression; and when distressing sickness
arises, the confectio cardiaca, spiritus Mindereri, infusions of
mint, and of other aromatics, joined to the use of gentle opiates,
are the best remedies*

Dr. Darwin, whose account of the effects of this herb has
been since published in the third volume of the Loodon Medical
Transactions, used a decoction in place of an infusion of it His
decoction was made by boiling four ounces of the fresh green
leaves from two pints (lib. ii.) to one, adding to it when strained
two ounces of vinous spirit. Of this decoction the doctor in
dropsical cases ordered the patient to take half an ounce early
in the morning, and to repeat the dose every hour till he had
taken eight or nine, or till sickness or some disagreeable sensa-
tions were induced. The hydropic fluid generally disappeared
the next day, or the day following it, without any repetition of
the medicine, frequently without any apparent increased evacua-
tion ; at other times with vomiting, afcd a large flow of urine;
and sometimes with purging stools. Some robust people took a
spoonful and a half, or two spoonfuls ; but as some of them
complained of very great debility during its operation, it was
esteemed more prudent to use an underdose, than to run the
risk of over-dosing it

The dropsical patients whom Dr. Darwin treated were mostly
past the meridian of life, and had habituated themselves to drink-
ing too great a quantity of fermented or spirituous liquors. Some
of them had no return of the disorder ; others relapsed, and were
obliged to have recourse to the same methods three or four dif-
ferent times in the space of a year or two, when generally a less
quantity of the digitalis answered than at first On the day
after the exhibition of the digitalis, or on the day following that,
if the sickness was gone, the doctor ordered his patients to take,
twice in the day, either some of an infusion of the stems of ar-
tichokes, or of a decoction of the bark, with a small quantity

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FOXGLOVE. 60S

of sortie chalybeate medicine ; and to take a grain of opiam every
night at bed-time, with so much rhubarb or aloe as might induce
a ttool daily ; and the patients were eihorted to persist for some
weeks in the regular use of opium, without increasing or di*
mioishtng the dose, as it seemed to be particularly advantageous
to them.

Dr. Ash, who formerly practised at Birmingham, and who
bad often given the digitalis, told me, that he used to order a
drachm and a half of the leaves of this plant to be infused, for
four hours, in eight ounces of boUing water; and an ounce (or
two table-spoonfuls) of the strained liquor to be taken once in
four hours, in the dropsy.

Great apprehensions were at first entertained of this remedy ;
but from extensive experience I can assert, that we seldom find
any of those very alarming circumstances said to be attendant
on this remedy. Where a sudden sinking takes place, it is from
the loss of tension in dropsical patients,, as those experience who
have been tapped in delivery at child-birth, and for the want of
bandages to supply the place of the distension of water. In a
patient who had an ague for two years, I ordered a tea-spoonful
of the tincture every four hours, until some effect should be in-
duced, when three ounces were first taken ; and Mr. Brown, of
Muscovy Court, for violent palpitation of the heart, took
three ounces without feeling any sensible effect Seeing common
people buy the herb at Coven t Garden, and boil a whole hand-
ful for one dose in cases of dropsy, yet survive and become
cured, I have ceased to look upon this remedy in the class of
our dangerous poisions.

4. In palpitation of the heart, and aneurism.

As might be expected, no remedy succeeds so well in these di-
stressing cases as the digitalis. It alleviates the symptoms, and,
properly administered, would prolong life even where it does not
produce a cure.

6. In water on the brain (hydrocephalus).

The digitalis seems applicable in this disease, and answers a
two-fold purpose, by lowering the action of the heart, and
promoting absorption. By the application of ether to the head
every hour, which by evaporation creates a great degree of cold,
and* the administration of the digitalis, we have cured the most
alarming cases of this fatal disease, even when convulsions and
strabismus (squinting) have supervened.

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000 FOXGLOY*.

6. In mama, arising from an effusion of water on the train.

7. In spasmodic asthma.

In this disease the greatest advantage has been produced, pro*
Jbably by producing absorption, and strengthening the habit,
for the digitalis acts as a tonic*

8* In scrophulous tumours.

It was in this disease that the digitalis first acquired its reputa-
tion. HaUer reports, that a scorbutic leprosy was cured by a
long use of this plant, and that Zeyter, by bruising its flowers
along with lard, has cured glandular tumours, and that a de-
plorable case of evil yielded to this remedy. The expressed
juice mixed with linseed meal I have tried with -success as a to-
pical application in several cases, when the medicine was also
given internally.

9. In epilepsy.

The ancient opinion of this disease often yielding to the use
of the digitalis seems confirmed by modern experience. Where
this disorder has been induced by a determination of blood to
the head, we have succeeded in removing this afflicting disorder.

PREPARATIONS.
Infusion of Foxglove. (Infusum Digitalis Purpureas. E.)
Take of dried leaves of foxglove, one drachm ;

— boiling water, eight ounces ;

spirit of cinnamon, one ounce :

Macerate for four hours, and filter.

This is the infusion so highly recommended by Withering.
Half an ounce, or an ounce of it, may be taken twice a-day in
dropsical complaints.

Decoction of Foxglove. (Decoctum Digitalis. D.)

Take of foxglove leaves, dried, one drachm ;

■ water as much as will furnish a strained decoction of

eight ounces, by measure ;
Place the vessel upon a alow fire, and as soon as the liquor boils
remove it Digest for a quarter of an hour, and strain.

This decoction, according to the proportion employed, b
twenty times weaker than that so much praised by Dr. Darwin ;
but with a medicine of so great activity, it is an advantage to
be able to regulate the doses easily; and it is probable that the
strength of decoctions is not increased in proportion as the
quantity of the menstruum is diminished.

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FOXGLOVE. 60T

Tincture of Foxglove. (Tinctura Digitalis Purpureas. E.)
Take of the dried leaves of foxglove, one ounce ;

dilated alcohol, eight ounces

Digest for seven da/8, and strain through paper.

Tincture of Foxglove. (Tinctura Digitalis. D.)

Take the leaves of foxglove (not large ones), dried, and in
coarse powder, two ounces ;

proof spirit, one pint :

Digest for seven days, and filter.

This tincture is a very powerful medicine, and contains the
virtues of the foxglove in a very manageable form. Like every
other form in which foxglove is given, except in scarlet fever,
it should be given in very small doses at first, such as from tea
to twenty drops, and cautiously increased.

When the digitalis is disposed to excite looseness, opium may
be advantageously conjoined with it ; and when the bowels are
tardy, jalap may be given at the same time, without interfering
with its diuretic effects. During its operation in this way, the
patient should drink very freely. Two cases of phthisis are re-
lated by Dr. Gregg, in which it produced a copious ptyalism.
In those cases where we administered the foxglove in scarlet
fever above recorded, a most copious ptyaKsm was generally

produced.

PRESCRIPTION.

Ifc. 1. Take of the powder of foxglove - - grains 0,

■ com pound powder of tragacanth, drachm 1 :
Make into a powder, which divide into six parts, of which tak*
one twice a day.

fy. 2. Take of the powder, of foxglove - grain 1,

■ conserve of hips ... drachm $ :
Make into a bolus, send at the same time three or four others
One is to be taken night and morning.

J£. 3. Take of the powder of foxglove - - grains 10,

— . compound powder of tragacanth, drachm -J,

opiate confection, as much as is sufficient :

Make into ten pills, of which take one three times a day.
1J. 4. Take of the dried powder of foxglove, drachm 1,

boiling water, a pint :

Macerate for a quarter of an hour, then strain ; add to the
■trained liquor two ounces of the compound tincture of carda-
moms. The dose is two table-spoonsful three times a day.

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COMMON SCURVY-GRASS,

COCHLEARIA OFFICINALIS.

Class XV. Tetradynamia. Order I. Siliculosa.
Embwt. Gen. Cba«. SiUcU emarginate, turgid, scabrous : Vthxs fib-

bous, obtuse.
Spec. Char. Radical Leaves cordate-sabrotund » Stem Leaves oblong,

somewhat sinuate.

DESCRIPTION.

I bis plant reaches fire or six inches in height. The radical
leaves are fleshy, and stand upon long footstalks ; those of thf
stem are sessile, alternate, dentated with large teeth. The
flowers are white, terminating the branches in thick clusters.
The pod b nearly globular, containing several rough seeds.

HISTORY.
Found on the mountains of Wales, and in Scotland; also
near the sea snore: flowers in April and May.

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COMMON SCURTYiGftAtt; 609

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

"We hare the testimony of its great use in scurry not only
fcy physicians but navigators, as Anson, Linscoten, Maaertens,
JBgede, and others. Forster found it in abundance in the islands
of the South Sea. It produces an essential oil, so ponderous as
to sink in water. It should be eaten as salad, or the expressed
juice mix4d with some convenient vehicle*

PREPARATIONS.

Compound Juice of Scurvy-Grass. (Succus Cochleariatf
Compositus. L.)

Take of juice of garden scurvy-grass, two pints ;

■ brooklime,

' » water-cresses, of each one pint ;

■ Seville oranges, twenty ounces, by measure :

Mix them, and, after the faeces have Subsided, pour off the li<
quor, or strain it*

Edin.

Take of juice of scurvy-grass*
^ water-cresses, expressed from fresh-gathered

herbs,

• Seville oranges, of each two pounds $

spirit of nutmegs, half a pound :

Mix them, and let them stand till the fasces have subsided ; then
pour off the clear liquor.

Both these compositions are of considerable use for the pur-
poses expressed in the name: the orange juice is an excellent as*.
sistant to the scurvy-grass, and other acrid^ antiscorbutic*, wbicfy
when thus mixed, have been found from experience to produce
much better effects than when employed by themselves. They
may be taken in doses, from an ounce or two to a quarter of a
pint, two or three times a day ; they generally increase the uru
nary secretion, and sometimes induce a laxative habit

The juices of succulent plants are obtained by expression.
They are of a very compound nature, consisting of the sap, the
secreted fluids, and fxcula, mixed together. When first pro-
cured they are very high coloured, turbid, and loaded with pa-
renchymatous matter. They may be purified by rest, filtration,
heat, and clarification. .Rest may be employed with juices
which are very fluid, do not contain volatile matter,' and am

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610 OOMMOV SCURTT-GRASS.

not susceptible of alteration, and with sub.acid jo ices, as that-
of lemons. By rest these undergo a kind of slight fermentation,
and all their mucilaginous and other viscid parts separate. Fil-
tration is perhaps the most perfect means of defecation, but it is
tedious, and applicable only to very fluid juices. In many in-
stances it may be facilitated by the addition of water. The ac-
tion of heat is more expeditious, and is employed for juices
which are very alterable, or which contain volatile matters. It
is performed by introducing the juice into a matrass, and im-
mersing it in boiling water for some minutes. The fecule are
coagulated, and easily separated by filtration. Clarification by
white of egg can only be used for very viscid mucilaginous
juices, which contain nothing volatile. The white of two eggs
may be allowed to each pint of juice. They are beat to a fine
froth, the juice gradually mixed with them, and the whole
brought to ebullition. The albumen coagulating, envelops all
tile parenchymatous and feculent matters, and the juice now
passes the filter readily. By this process juices are rendered
sufficiently fine ; but the heat employed deepens their colour,
and manifestly alters them, so that it is not merely a defecating
but a decomposing process. When depurated, juices are yel-
low or red, but never green.

The fluids thus extracted from succulent fruits, whether add
or sweet; from most of the acrid herbs, as scurvy-grass and
water-cresses ; from the acid herbs, as sorrel and wood-sorrel;
from the aperient lactescent plants, as dandelion and hawk weed;
and from various other vegetables, contain great part of the pe-
culiar .taste and virtues of the respective subjects. The juices,
on the other hand, extracted from most of the aromatic herbs,
have scarcely any thing of the flavour of the plants, and seem
to differ little from decoctions of them made in water boiled tiH
the volatile odorous parts have been dissipated. Many of the
odoriferous flowers, as the lily, violet, hyacinth, not only im-
part nothing of their fragrance to their juice, but have it totally
destroyed by the previous bruising. From want of sufficient
attention to these particulars, practitioners have been frequently
deceived in the effects of preparations of this class : juice of mint
has been often prescribed as a stomachic, though it wants those
qualities by which mint itself and its other preparations operate.

There are differences as great in regard to their preserviag
those virtues, and this independently of the volatility of the

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; COMMON 6CURVY-GRA8S. 611

active matter, or its disposition to exhale. Even {he volatile
▼irtae of scurvy-grass may, by the above method, be preserved
almost entire in its juice for a considerable time; while the, ac
tive parts of the juice of the wild cucumber quickly separate
and settle to the bottom, leaving the fluid part inert* Juices of
arum root, iris root, bryony root, and other vegetables, in like
manner allow their medicinal parts to settle at the bottom.

If juices are intended to be kept for any length of time, about
one-fortieth part of their weight of good spirit of wine may be
added, and the whole suffered to stand as before : a fresh sedi-
ment will now be deposited, from which the liquor is to be
poured off, strained again, and put into small bottles which have
been washed with spirit, and dried. A little oil is to be poured
on the surface, so as yery nearly to fill the bottles, aod the
mouths closed with leather, paper, or stopped with straw, as
the flasks are in which Florence oil is brought to us : this serves
to keep out dust, and suffers the air to escape, which, in pro.
cess of time, arises from all vegetable liquors, and which would
otherwise endanger the bursting of the glasses ; or, being im.
bibed afresh, render their contents vapid and foul. The bottles
are to be kept on the bottom of a good cellar or vault, placed
up to the necks in sand. By this method some juices may be
preserved for a year or two, and others for a much longer time ;
though, whatever care be taken, they are found to answer better
when fresh ; and, from the difficulty of preserving them, they
have of late been very much laid aside, especially since we have
been provided with more convenient and useful remedies.

5r!

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HORSE-RADISH.

COCHLEARIA ARMORACEA.

^ Class XV. Tetradynamia. Order I. Siliculosa.
Lmewt. Gen. Char. The tame as the last.
Spec. Char. Radical Leaves large, lanceolate, creoate: Stem
and entire.

Lemmcit,

DESCRIPTION.
Tuis plaot rises two or three feet in height Radical learei
stand on strong footstalks, those on the stem on scarcely aoy.
Flowers white, terminating the branches in thick clusters, ant
arising from the axillae of the leaf.

HISTORY.
Found wild in several parts of England, especially about rub-
bish and the sides of ditches, commonly cultivated in kitchen-
gardens, thriving greatly by its roots, and flowering in May.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
Dr. Cullen says, I have found that one drachm of the root,
fresh, scraped down, was enough for four ounces of water, to

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HORSE-RADISH. 613

be infused in a close vessel for two hours, and made into a syrup,
with double its weight in sugar. A tea-spoonful or two of this
syrup, swallowed leisurely, and occasionally repeated, we have
often found very suddenly effectual in curing of hoarseness. It
may be used in rheumatic affections as a rubefacient. Employed
as condiment it stimulates the stomach, and, where much is eaten
at a time, promotes digestion. We chiefly use it with roast beef,
which is occasionally very tough. Bergius relates that palsy and
scurvy have been cured by swallowing large pieces cut in the
form of pills, as mustard-seed is used for the same purpose. I
have known a strong decoction of this root drunk as an emetic,
and relieve pituitous asthma more than any other means. This
plant should be much used with all phlegmatic habits in diet,
especially such as are afflicted with the dropsy.

OFFICINAL PREPARATION.

Compound Spirit of Horse-Radish. (Spiritus Raphani
Compositus. L. D.)

Take of fresh horse-radish root,

dried outer rind of Seville oranges, of each, two

pounds ;

■ fresh herb of garden scurvy-grass, four pounds ;

bruised nutmegs, one ounce ;

■— — proof spirit, two gallons ;

water, sufficient to prevent empyreuma :

Draw off two gallons.

This is an aromatic acrid spirituous liquor, and was formerly
thought to have high antiscorbutic properties.

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COMMON BLACK MUSTARD.

SINAPIS NIGRA.

Class XV. Tetradynamia. Order II. Siliqnosa.
Emej?t. Geiv. Chak. Calyx spreading : Claw of the Petal straight : Glands

betwixt the shorter stamina and the pistillum, and betwixt the long and

the calyx.
Spec. Char. SiUfua smooth, pressing on the stem.

DESCRIPTION.

This plant riies three feet. Leaves near the root large, irre.
gularly heart-shaped, and pinnatifid or lobed at the base ; those
on the branches narrow, pointed, entire. Flowers terminate
the branches, of a bright yellow.

HISTORY.

Common in corn-fields and banks of ditches, is cultivated for

use, and flowers in June. There are two kinds ; the common

black mustard, having blackish seeds, and the white, which hs*

lighter seeds, but they do not differ in qualities. White mustard-

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fcOMMOK BLACK MTOTAkI. 615

teed, when mixed with water, sends out very volatile, pungent
effluvia. It abounds with oily, gum-resinous, and earthy filed
parts ; its oil, got by expression, is almost as mild as that pro*
cured from sweet almonds.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.
It is gi?en as a warm, cordial medicine, in cold phlegmatic
habits, where there is too much viscid phlegm ; and in chronic
diseases, where there is too languid a circulation. It sometimes
pro? cs a strong dinretic ; and we have an instance, related by
Dr. Mead, where the waters of a dropsy were all evacuated by
urine, from taking a spoonful of the un bruised mustard-seed
twice a day. It is likewise prescribed in this form as a warm
cordial medicine in palsies ; and has had a good effect in chronic
rheumatism, when taken in the same way. Bruised mustard-
seed, or its flowers, mixed with warm water, proves a speedy
and safe emetic, and is often used as such in paralytic cases.

PREPARATIONS.
Mustard Cataplasm. (Cataplasma Sinapeos. L. D.)

Take of mustard-seed, powdered,

■ crumb of bread, of each half a pound ;

vinegar, as much as is sufficient :

Mix, and make a cataplasm.

(Sinapisms may be made stronger by adding of horse.radisji,

scraped, two ounces, D.)

Cataplasms of this kind are commonly known by the name
of sinapisms. They were formerly frequently prepared in a
more complicated state, containing garlic, black soap, and other
similar articles ; but the above simple form will answer every
purpose which they are capable of accomplishing. They are
Employed only as stimulants : they often inflame the part, and
raise blisters, but not so perfectly as can th a rides. They are
frequently applied to the soles of the feet, in the low state of
acute diseases, for raising the pulse and relieving the head. The
chief advantage they have, depends on the suddenness of their
action.

Compound Plaster of Spanish Flies. (Emplastrum Meloea
Vesicatorii Compositum. £.)

Take of Burgundy pitch,
■■ Venice turpentine,

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616 comioir black mustabb.

. Take of cantharides, each twelve parts ;

■»■ ■ ■ yellow wax, four parts ;

i sub-acetite of popper, two parts ;

mustard-seed,

■ black pepper, each one part :
Having first melted the pitch and wax, add the turpentine, and
to these, in fusion, and still hot, add the other ingredients, re-
dnced to a fine powder, and mixed, and stir the whole carefully
together, so as to form a plaster.

This is supposed to be the most infallible blistering plaster.
It certainly contains a sufficient variety of stimulating ingre-
dients. Where a quicker action is required, this is a better form
than the ordinary blister, but less suited for very irritable skins,
or for children.

PRESCRIPTION,
Ifc. 1. Take of mustard-seed,

horse-radish roofr, of each, drachms %

■ boiling water, a pint :

Macerate for two hours, then strain ; add to the strained liquor,
ginger in powder two drachms, and aromatic confection one
drachm, of which take a table-spoonful four times a day, in.
co|d phlegmatic habits, and paralytic disorders.

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WATER-CRESSES.

SISYMBRIUM NASTURTIUM.

Clou XV. Tetradynamia. Order II. Siliquosa.

£ssinfT. Gf*. Char. Siliqua opening with nearly straight linn: Calyx
spreading : Corolla spreading.

Spec. Char. Siliques declining: Leaves pinnate, with toe pinna) sub-
cordate.

DESCRIPTION.
A small aquatic plant found in ditches. The stalks are thick, '
and alternately branched. Stem with angular projections. Lea? ei
alternate, lanceolate, pinnate, having above one pair, and below
two to fire pair of pmnas, terminating in an odd one, which is
the largest Pinnae oblong, irregularly erenate, blunt, opposite,
sessile, orate, obtuse, rarely any veins beneath, of a bright
-green, those nearest the stem smallest. Lower leaves nearly
heart-shaped. Flowers on short terminal spikes, white.
HISTORY.
Common in wet ditches and brooks, where it is gathered by
simplers. Professor Martyn, in his Letters on Botany, ad-

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613 WATER-CRE88E*.

dressed to a young Lady, which never can be too mnch praised,
says, We hare another instance of fatal confusion, not in two
plants of this tribe, but in one of this with another of a different
class ; namely, of the creeping water* psvrsnep* with water-cresst,
which belongs to the cruciform flowers. You are so well mis-
tress of both tribes, that it is impossible you should mistake
them when in flower ; but this is not the time when water-cresses
are eaten, and this plant is so different in its flowering state,
that I am persuaded an eater of it would think himself imposed
upon if he were then shown it for water-cresses. When they
are both young they are really not unlike ; and since they fre-
quently grow together, the one may sometimes be gathered for
the other ; though I must confess that I ha? e not met with the
mistake more than twice, and that only in a single piece among
a considerable quantity : however, the leaves of water-parsoep
are of a light green ; the small leaves composing the whole
winged or pinnate leaf are longer and narrower, serrated on the
edges, and pointed at the end ; whereas those of water-cresses
have a tincture of brown upon them, the leaflets are roundish,
and particularly the odd one at the end is very large and blunt,
and they are none of them regularly serrated, but have onlj a
few indentures on their edges.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
The admirable author of the Edinburgh New Dispensatory
says, Water-cress acts as a gentle stimulant and diuretic; (ot
these purposes the expressed juice, which contains the peculiar
taste and pungency of the herb, may be taken in doses of aa
ounce or two, and continued for a considerable time. It should
be at the same time eaten at breakfast, also at dinner, and for
supper, to experience benefit from the virtues of this herb.
Haller says, We have seen patients in deep declines cared hy
almost entirely living on this plant. It is reported, be adds,
that the juice of this plant snuffed up the nostrils has cared a
polypus of the nose. It enters into a composition esteemed
famous for curing the scurvy. Vide p. 609.
» • i — ■■ . . — -. . . . . i i ■ -

• atom nodiaorum Lin. Fl. Dan. t. S47. Mor. Hist. s. 9. t.5. f*&
En*. Bot. 639.

■» Sisymbrium Nasturtium Lin. Fl. Dan. t 690. Mor. Hist. s.S. ti
f. 8. Ger. 257. $.

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COMMON LADIES-SMOCK,

CUCKOO-FLOWER.

CARDAMINE PRATENS1S.

Clot* XV. Tetradynamta. Order II. Silquon.
Bmbmt. Gen. Char. Siliqua bursting elaitkally with revolate valvet:

Stigma entire : Calyx half gaping.
Spbc. Char. Leave* pinnate: Radical Pimut nearly round.

DESCRIPTION.
This plant rises near a foot, with a smooth and erect stalk.
Leaves few ; radical ones spreading in an orbicular manner,
large* than the stem leaves, and nearly round ; both terminate
in an odd leaf, which is largest. Flowers in a cluster terminate*
the stem, upon smooth long flower-stalks, conspicuous, of a de-
licate blush-red, or whitish purple, delicately veined.
HISTORY.
Common in moist meadows, and producing its flowers in
April and May. This is the plant mentioned as a spring flower
by our immortal Shakspeare, in Lore's Labour Lost :

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620 COMMOK LADIES-SHOCK.

When daisies pied and violets blue,
And lady-smocks all silver-white,
And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue
Do paint the meadows With delight.

Violets and daisies we know ; but the other two have girei
origin to conjecture. Berkenhout says, I never saw silver white
lady-smocks ; and the Lychnis flos cuculi is red. Nevertheless
the poet might have easily called this flower by that name ; for,
as Dr. Smith observes, " they are very abundant in the moist part
of meadows, and at a distance look like large white patches, re-
gembling the inner female garment hung out to bleach." The
cuckoo-buds were either cowslips or buttercups, which are
quite immaterial ; but more probably the latter, as these flowers
are called cuckoo-buds in Staffordshire.

MEDICAL USE.

It is a warm plant, and has been esteemed to be a powerful
diuretic. Galen and many authors allege that it possesses (he
same virtues as the water,cresses. Dale, in his Pharmacologic
mentions that its flower is recommended in convulsive disor.
ders in a manuscript of Dr. Tan c red Robinson's ; and Sir
George Baker, president of the College of Physicians, has men-
tioned, in the first volume of Medical Transactions, some ner-
vous and hysteric cases in which he administered the flowers with
good effect The dose is half a drachm to two drachms of the
powdered flowers, given twice a day. St Vitus's dance, and
spasmodic asthma, have yielded to these flowers. Dr. Withering
says, The virtue of the flowers of this plant in hysteric and epi-
leptic cases was first mentioned by Ray in his Letters, as appears
from their publication. They do not act like the Erysimum
cheiranthoides, which is called treacle wormseed, from the seeds
destroying worms ; and thus cure the epilepsies of children by
destroying the worms in the stomach and intestines," which b
often the cause of fits. I have accounts of the success of this
plant in recent cases from good authority, but hare never been
fortunate enough to see it cure Tijsterical affections. Whilst is
Cornwall, in the year 1793, I had the pleasure of meeting witfc
the Rev. Mr. Gregor, who told me, that the flowering tops of
the ladies-smock had been successfully used by his family for
some generations in the cure of epilepsies ; and some esses,
which he mentioned to me were no: likely to have proceeded
from worms. Dr. Woodville says, In epilepsy this remedy hss
been generally found unsuccessful. Can this arise from <W
medical brethren only using the leaves, whereas Mr. Gregor
wsed the flowering tops?

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HEDGE MUSTARD.

ERYSIMUM OFFICINALE.

Class XV. Tetradynamia. Order II. Siliquosm.
EtSKNT. Gen. Char. Siliqua columnar, exactly quadrangular: Calyx

closed.
Sfbc. Char. Siliqua* pressed to the stalk : Leaves runcinated.

DESCRIPTION.

Stalk two feet in height. Leaves rough, downy, pinnatifid,
segments toothed : teeth large. Flowers small, yellow, placed
in long spikes, and numerous at the top.

HISTORY.
Common on dry banks and barren places ; flowers from June
till September.

MEDICAL USE.

This plant is strongly recommended in chronical coughs and
hoarseness. Dr. Cullen recommends for these disorders the
juice of the Erysimum mixed with equal quantity of honey and
sugar, and a spoonful to be taken frequently during the day.
Vide also p. 613, on the syrup of horseradish.

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SAUCE ALONE, or
STINKING HEDGE MUSTARD.

Class XV. Tetradynamia. Order II. Siliquosa.
Essent. Gen. Char. Same as the last.,
Spec. Char. Leaves cordate.

DESCRIPTION.
Stalk three feet ia height. Leaves alternate, large, heart,
ahaped, on footstalks, unequally toothed, veiny. Flowen
white, in terminal spikes. Pod two inches long, obscurely

quadrangular.

HISTORY.
Common on hedge banks, flowers in May and June: the
leaves hare a strong flavour resembling that of garlic or oo*oa*>
and give the same smell to the breath ; hence used for the us*

culinary purposes.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
The same as garlic, which, when steeped in gin, is taken «
dropsy of the chest and anasarca; also in humoral asthma: sud
Boerhaave says, that used as an external application he curd
with it a gangrene of the leg, from a neglected fracture aaa
contusion.

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TAMARIND TREE.

TAMA FUNDUS INDICA.

CTostXYI. Monadelphia. Order III. DUndria.
Bsssnrr. Gsat. Char. Calyx four-parted : Petals three : Nectary two short

bristles under the filaments : Legumcn pulpy.
Spbc. Char. None, there being no other species.

DESCRIPTION.
1 his tree rises to a considerable height. The leaves are pin*
nated, alternate, consisting of usually fourteen pinnae, which
are opposite, and inversely heart-shaped, terminates with two
pinnae. Flowers in lateral clusters, consisting of a coloured
calyx of a light straw colour, and three yellow petals, which
are beautifully variegated with red reins.

HISTORY.
This tree is. a native of both Indies, America, ^Bgypt, and
Arabia, and flowers in June and July. The pulp of the tama-
rind, with the seeds, connected together by numerous tough
strings or fibres, are brought to us freed from the outer shell,
and commonly preserved in syrup. According to Long, tanuu

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624 TAMARIND TREE.

rinds are prepared for exportation at Jamaica in the following
manner : " The fruit or pods are gathered (in June, July, and
August) when full ripe, which' is known by their fragility or
easy breaking on small pressure between the finger and thumb*
The fruit, taken out of the pod, and cleared from the shelly
fragments, is placed in layers in a cask, and boiling syrup, just
before it begins to granulate, is poured in, till the cask is filled :
the syrup pervades every part quite down to the bottom, and
when cool the cask is headed for sale." He observes, that the
better mode of preserving this fruit is with sugar, well clarified
with eggs, till a transparent syrup is formed, which gives the
fruit a much pleasanter flavour: but as a principal medicinal
purpose of the pulp depends upon its acidity, which is thus
counteracted by the admixture of sugar, it would therefore be
of more utility if always imported here in the pods. The fruit
produced in the East Indies is more esteemed than that of the
West, and easily to be distinguished by the greater length of
the pods, and the pulp being dryer and of a darker colour.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.
This fruit Very much resembles the nature of prunes, bat is
more acid, and enters as an useful ingredient into the lenitive
electuary. It is found of the highest use in the sore throat,
as a powerful cleanser, and put into boiling water, until mo-
derately cold, is a delightful drink to persons parched under tkt
heat of fever, and in the lowest stage of putrid fever.

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MARSHM ALLOW,

ALTILEA officinalis.

Clan XVI. Monadelphia. Order IX. Polyandrla.
E«bnt. Gen. Char. Calyx double, the external one nine-cleft: Arxlli

numerous, many-seeded.
Spec. Char. Leaves simple, tomentose.

DESCRIPTION:

This plant rises three or four feet high. The leaves are heart-
shaped, pointed, irregularly serrated, covered with soft down,
and standing upon long footstalks. The flowers are large, con-
futing of five petals, inversely heart-shaped, of a pale purple.
The interior calyx is composed of five pointed segments.

HISTORY.

It is a native of England, and grows common near the sea
ahore, or about salt marshes ; and flowers in August.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.
The dry roots of this plant, boiled in water, give out half
their weight of a gummy matter like starch, and on evaporating
{he aqueous fluid, form a flavourless yellowish mucilage. The

2 •

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626 MARSHMALLOW.

leaves afford scarcely one- fourth of their weight, and the flowers
and seeds still less. Decoctions of this plant have been found ex-
eeedingly useful where the natural mucus has been abraded from
the coats of the intestines ; in catarrhs from a thin rheum ; ia
nephritic and calculous disorders ; in cases where the lochia haw
been too thin and sharp after childbirth ; in the heat of urine
attending gonorrhoeas, and in many other cases : however, it
ought to be remarked, that we ought not to make these decoc-
tions too thick and viscid, by too long boiling or infusion; for
then they become nauseous and disagreeable, and patients can-
not be prevailed on to take them in sufficient quantity*

OFFICINAL PREPARATIONS.

Decoction of Ma rshm allow. (Decoctum Althawe
Officinalis. E.)

Take of dried marshmallow roots, bruised, four ounces;

raisius of the sun, stoned, two ounces ;

water, seven pounds :

Boil down to five pounds ; strain the decoction, and after tin
faeces have subsided, pour off the clear liquor.

Marshmallow roots contain nothing soluble in water, except
mucilage, which is very abundant in them. This decoction it
therefore to be considered merely as an emollient, rendered
more pleasant by the acidulous sweetness of the raisins.

Syrup of Marshmallow. (Syrupus Althaeae. L.)
Take of fresh root of marshmallow, bruised, one pound;

- double refined sugar, four pounds ;
— — distilled water, one gallon :

Boil the water with the marshmallow root to one half, and press
out the liquor when cold. Set it by twelve hours ; and, after
£he faeces have subsided, pour off the liquor. Add the sugar,
and boil it to the weight of six pounds.

This is merely a mucilaginous syrup, and is chiefly used ia
nephritic cases) for sweetening emollient decoctions, and tfce
like.

The common mallow (malva sybestris) has somewhat similar
-virtues.

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?• j

COMMON FUMITORY.

FUMARIA OFFICINALIS.

Class XV 11. Diadelphia. Order II. Hexandria.
Emeitt. Gjbw. Char. Calyx two-leaved : Corolla r indents Fikvmntt two,

membranaceous, each with three anthers.
Spec. Char. Pericarps with one seed : Stem branched*

DESCRIPTION.

X his plant rises a foot The leaves are compound) doubly
pinnated ; the smaller pinnae three-lobed, of a pale green. The
flowers are of a reddish purple, and grow in spikes, which arise
from the axillae of the lea? es. The corolla hat the appearance
somewhat, and is in reality riogent.

HISTORY.

This plant is common in our corn-fields, and usually flowers

in May.

MEDICAL VIRTUE,

Dr. Cullen says, " This plant is a tonic ; it is omitted in the
£#ondon Dispensatory, but retained in ours, and in every other
that I know of. 1 have found it useful in many cases in which

• M. M. vol. II. p. 77.
2s 2

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638 COIIHOH FUMITORY.

bitten are prescribed ; but its remarkable virtues are those of
clearing the skin of many disorders. For this it has been mack
commended; and I hare myself experienced its good effects ia
many instances of cutaneous affections, which I would call Lepra.
1 hare commonly used it by expressing the juice, and giving that
to two ounces twice a day : but I find the virtues remain in the
dried plant, so that they may be extracted by infusion* or de-
coction in water ; and the foreign dispensatories hare prepared
an extract of it, to which they ascribe all the virtues of the
fresh plant."

Dr. Rutty, in his Observations on the London and Edinburgh
Dispensatories, with an Account of the Virtues of various Sub-
jects of the Materia Medica rejected by one or both of those
Works, says, speaking of this plant, " It is justly adopted by
the Edinburgh Dispensatory, being possessed of a considerable
degree of bitterness and acrimony, and has the sanction of an-
cient and modern authority for its virtues in cutaneous cases;
for which purpose it ought to be given in the juice or infuska
In whey, its acrimony being yolatile."

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RATTLESNAKE ROOT,

MILKWORT,

POLYGALA SENEGA.

CUut XVII. Diadelpaia. Order III. Oetaodria.
XncitT. Gen. Char. ' Calgx five-leaved, two of them wing-shaped, co*

loured : Legume obcordate, (wo- eel led.
Spec. Char. Ftowen beardless, spiked : ,Siem erect, herbaceous, matt

simple : Leaves oblong -lanceolate.

DESCRIPTION.

I nis plant rises nearly a foot. Leaves acutely pointed, alter*
nate, on short foot-stalks. Flowers smalt, white, papiliona-
ceous, terminal.

HISTORY.

Seneka is a perennial plant, which grows wild in North Ame-
rica, particularly Virginia and Pennsylvania. This root is usually
about the thickness of the little finger, variously bent and coiu
iorted, and appears as if composed of joints, whence it is sap*

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690 RATTLESNAKE ftOOl!, OK MILKWORT.

posed to resemble the tail of the animal whose name it bears; a
kind of membranous margin runs on each side the whole length
of the root

The bark is the acti?e part of the root Its taste is at first
acrid, afterwards very hot and pungent It has no smell.

Its acrimony resides in a resin ; for it is entirely extracted by
alcohol; is precipitated by water; does not rise in distillation;
and is not destroyed by keeping.

MEDICAL USE.

It is an active stimulus, and increases the force of the areola*
tion, especially of the pulmonary vessels. It has therefore been
fonnd useful in typhoid inflammations of the lungs ; but it is apt
to disorder the stomach, and to induce diarrhoea. Dr. Brand-
reth, of Liverpool, has derived great benefit, in some cases of
lethargy, from an extract of seneka combined with carbonate of
ammonia.

Some have likewise employed this root in hydropic cases, and
not without success. There are examples of its occasioning a
plentiful evacuation by stool, urine, and perspiration ; and br
this means removing the disease, after tlje common diuretics and
hydragogues had railed.

The Senegaro Indians are said to prevent the fatal effects of
the bite of a rattlesnake by giving it internally, and by applriflf
it externally to the wound.

The usual dose of the powder is thirty grains, or more.
- Externally it has been advantageously used as a atimalatinf
gargle in croup*

OFFICINAL PREPARATION,
Decoction of Seneka. (Decoctum Polygahe Senegc. E.)

Take of seneka root, one ounce ;

■ water, two pounds :

Boil down to sixteen ounces, and strain the decoction.

The virtues of this decoction will be easily understood from
those of the root from which it is prepared. 'The dose in b/«
dropic cases, and rheumatic or arthritic complaints, is two
ounces, three or four times a day, according to its efiect

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BASTARD CABBAGE TREE.

GEOFFRCEA INERMIS.

ClwuXVU. Diadelphla. Order IV. Dccandria.
ItSKMT. Gbn. Char. Calyx ave-clef t : Drupe ovate : Nut comprewod.
Sec. Char. Stem unarmed : Leaves lanceolate.

DESCRIPTION.
JffiB is a large tree, sending off numerous branches. Leaves
pinated, consisting of several pair of pinnae, and ending in an
od one. Pinnae lance-shaped, acute, veined, in pairs, on short
fotetalks. Flowers in clusters, upon large branched spikes,
pailionaceous, of a pale rose colour, terminal, on footstalks*

HISTORY,
he bark of this tree, which grows in the low savannahs of
Jaaica, is of a gray colour externally, but black and furrowed

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63t BASTARD CABBAGE TREE*

on the inside. The powder looks like jalap, but is not* so
heavy. It has a mucilaginous and sweetish taste, and a dis-
agreeable smell.

MEDICAL USE.

Its medical effects are much greater than its sensible qualities
would lead us to expect. When properly exhibited, it operate!
as a powerful anthelmintic, especially in cases of lumbrici.

It may be gi?en in different forms, as in decoction, syrupy
powder, and extract ; and the manner of preparing and exh»
biting these is thus stated by Dr. Wright :

" The decoction. Take fresh dried or well preserved cabbagt
bark, one ounce; boil it in a quart of water, over a slow fire,
till the water is of ati amber colour, or rather of deep-colourel
Madeira wine ; strain it off, sweeten it with sugar, and let it h
used immediately, as it does not keep many days*

" Syrup of cabbage bark. To any quantity of the abo?e do
coction add a double portion of sugar, and make a syrup. Ths
will retain its virtues for years.

" The extract of cabbage bark is made by evaporating tb
strong decoction in balneo marice to the proper consistence; i
must be continually stirred, as otherwise the resinous part riss
to the top, and on this probably its efficacy depends.

" The powder of well-dried bark is easily made, and looks
like jalap, though not of equal specific gravity.

" This bark, like most other powerful anthelmintics, has t
narcotic effect ; and on this account it is always proper to begr
with small doses, which may be gradually increased till a nause
is excited, when the dose for that patient is ascertained. B<
by frequeut use we can in common determine the dose, thong
we choose to err rather on the safe side.

" A strong healthy grown person may, at first, take for
table-spoonfuls of the decoction or syrup, three grains of is
extract, or thirty grains of the powder, for a dose.

" A youth, three table-spoonfuls of the decoction or syr%
two grains of extract, or twenty grains of powder.

" A person of ten years of age, two table-spoonfuls of it
decoction or syrup, one grain and a half of extract, or fifua
grains of the powder.

" Child rcu of two or three years old, a table-spoonfuof
the decoction or syrup, one grain of extract, or ten grainjaf
the powder. Children of a year old, half (he quantity.

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BASTARD CABBAGE TREE. 633

* These may be increased, as abo?e observed, till a nausea
is excited, which will depend on the strength, sex, and habit of
body of the patient.

" Care must be taken that cold water be not drunk during
the operation of this medicine, as it is in this case apt to occa-
sion sickness, vomiting, fever, and delirium. When this hap.
pens, or when an over large dose has been given, the stomach
must be washed with warm water : the patient must speedily be
purged with castor oil, and use plenty of lime juice beverage for
common drink ; vegetable acid being a powerful antidote in this
case, as well as in an over dose of opium.

" The decoction is what is mostly given here, and seldom fails
to perform every thing that can be expected from an anthelmintic
medicine, by destroying worms in the intestines, and bringing
them away in great quantities. By frequent use, however, these
animals become familiarized, and we find it necessary to intermit
it, or have recourse to others of inferior merit.

" The writers of the Edinburgh Medical Commentaries take
notice, that the decoction of cabbage bark always excites vo.
miting. We find no such effect from it here, and ma)\account
for it by their receiving it in a mouldy state. A syrup, there,
fore, is given there with better effect They observe also that
it has a diuretic virtue, which we have not taken notice of here*

" This bark purges pretty briskly, especially in powder,
thirty or forty grains working as well as jalap by stool ; but in
this way it does not seem to kill worms so well as in decoction.

" Five grains of the extract made a strong man sick, and
purged him several times ; but, by frequent use, he took ten
grains to produce at length the same effect.

" It must not be concealed that fatal accidents have hap.
pened from the imprudent administration of this bark, chiefly
from over-dosing the medicine. But this cannot detract from
the merit of the cabbage bark, since the best medicines^ when
abused, become deleterious ; and even our best aliments, in too
great quantity, prove destructive. Upon the whole, the cab.
bage bark is a most valuable remedy, and I hope will become an
juldjtipn to the materia medica."

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C O W H A G E.

DOLICHOS PRURIENS.

Clast XVII. Diadelphia. Order IV. Decandria.
£s*Eirr. Gen. Char. VexiUum with two parallel oblong callosities at the

base, compressing the wings underneath.
pPEC Citar. Stem twining : Legumes racemed, the valves slightly can-
' nate, and hairy : Peduncles three together.

DESCRIPTION.
The stem is climbing, and twists round neighbouring tretf,
«nd so rises to a great height. The leaves are in threes, aad
stand upon long footstalks, and are placed alternate: each pinst,
or leaf, is entire, oval, pointed, smooth above, hirsute beneafi.
There are two small stipules at the footstalks of the compound
leaves. Flowers very large, a deep purple, placed also in threes,
upon short peduncles, and form pendent spikes, which arise
from the axillae of the leaves. The vexillum, or standard, is small.
The alas, or wings, extremely large. The carina, or keel, i$
also long, and furnished on each side with a short spur. Tbc
fruit is an oblong pod, in form of the letter/

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cJowbage* 835

HISTORY,
It is a nati?e of the West Indies, and flowers in September
and October.

MEDICAL USE.

' The following account is extracted from Mr. Chamberlaine'a
Admirable " Practical Treatise on the Stizolobium, or Cowhage-:"
—When from the existing symptoms, all other circumstance*
considered, it is known, or suspected, that worms are the cause
of disturbance in the system, it becomes our business to get rid
of them as soon as we can, and with as little danger to the pa.
tient as possible.

In this view the indications are, first, to administer such me-
dicines as will oblige them to let go their hold, and dislodge them
from their situation ; secondly, to expel them from the body ;
and, thirdly, to prevent a return of the complaint, by such me*
dicines and regimen as will invigorate the system, and prevent
the accumulation of viscid mucus in the intestines.

Many and various ha? e been the medicines exhibited, and even
celebrated, for the expulsion of these intestine enemies.

Bitter purgatives, oily medicines, chalybeates, preparations of
tin, iron, and zinc ; garlic, hellebore, the root of the male ferrf,
which is the basis of madam Nouner^s celebrated Swiss remedy ;
drastic and resinous cathartics : the juices of plan(s celebrated
for their anthelmintic qualities, have all had their turn.

Bitters will not prove effectual ; for Le Clerc cells us, that h*
found worms, not only in the liver, but in, the gall-bladder it-
self, of a sheep which he dissecttd ; which were active and lively,
swimming in the gall itself, the bitterest of all the secretions.

Oil, which kills all other insects, will not answer here. It it
true, it may destroy a few ascarides in the vicinity of the rectum,
when administered as a glyster : But how is the oil to be con.
veyed into the jejunum, or ileum, unaltered, so as to drown the
teres, or a tape-worm ? The tract of the intestines it has to pass
through, and the changes it undergoes before it reaches the sett
. -of worms, render it inert. But we are even told the experiment
has been made of putting live teretes into common oil, in which
they have lived and moved for several hours.

Practitioners not attached to any particular remedy, among
•those generally considered as specifics, place dependence on mer-
curials ; but mercury, in ail its various forms, has bees exhibttssl

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63$ COWHAGB.

In many milliom of real worm cases, without any other dbct
than injuring the constitution.

If mercury be gi?en at ail for the expulsion of worms, tht
safest way of administering it has always appeared to me to bt
in small doses of Dimsdale's powder *. But even this is not al-
ways effectual. And it is rery extraordinary, that where natait
has pointed out and supplied us with the noblest and safest an.
thelmintics, the preparations of art should be substituted, and
preferred, though inferior in virtue, and more hazardous in their
consequences.

Few or none of the European medicines are equal in efficacy
to those vermifuges which the East and West Indies supply u
with.

The worm grass is highly commended by many, and is allowed
a place among the first anthelmintics, by those who have been
accustomed to give it. Its use principally obtains among the
free black and mulatto women of Jamaica, who make a liveli-
hood by practising physic among those of their own colour,
with the medicinal herbs which nature so abundantly bestows it
that climate-
It is the anthelmia of Dr. Browne, and the spigelia of lin«
we us.

The preparations of it are an infusion, decoction, and tht
clarified juice.

Dr. Browne, who, in his Natural History of Jamaica, gives
us the best methods of preparing it, speaks very highly in its
praise. Those to whom it is administered are first affected as i*
with a degree of intoxication. »lt then procures sleep almost at
certainly, and in the same degree, as opium ; and the patient*
eyes, after the sleep is over, appear sparkling and distended.
However, the exhibition of it is not unattended with danger ; if
the dose be too little it will do no good, and excess in the do*
1 have known productive of alarming effects.

The asckphas, which is the apocynum erectum folio oblong*
&c» of Sloone, from ks emetic quality called bastard or wild
ipecacuanha, and by the negroes red-head, is a powerful ver-
mifuge.

The usual way of administering it is, either in a decoction or

• R. calomel, compound powder of crab* daws, of each equal p**i
grains 3 j tartar oed antimony, grain i or £•

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COWHAGEi 8ST

the expressed juice of the leaves. Of the former, half a pint is
the usual dose to an adult, when intended as an emetic. In the
latter form, from a tea-spoonful to three table-spoon fuls may
be given as an emetic, according to the age, constitution, and
strength of the patient. The expressed juice may also be made
Into a syrup with sugar. I hare known it to bring away worms
(after operating as an emetic) from patients in whom there never
appeared any symptoms of them. If there are any in the sto-
mach, it certainly dislodges them. When the crude juice is to
be administered, I would recommend an addition of an equal or
a double portion of lukewarm water with it, which makes it ope-
rate more gently, and likewise more effectually.

The bark of the bastard cabbage tree ( Geoffrcea inermis) standi
among the first in the list of powerful vermifuges.

It is the bark of a tree, very frequently to be met with in the
mountainous parts of Jamaica, which grows to a considerable
height. The bark is of an ash colour, sometimes spotted with
reddish or iron-coloured spots : the outer thin bark/ or epider-
mis, being peeled off, the inner bark appears, when dry, of a
rusty iron colour, and its interior surface of a cineritious hue.
Altogether, when stripped off the tree, and kept for use, it it
not unlike the eleutheria, or cascarilla bark. The wood of the
bastard cabbage tree is exceedingly hard and durable, and much
used for the purposes of building, where strength and stability
are required. The leaves are oblong, oval, smooth, and of a
beautiful green colour, disposed in a pinnate form along the
item.

Of this tree there are said to be two sorts, the male and the
female. The bark of that only which is called the female bas-
tard cabbage tree is applied to the purposes of medicine. This
latter, in the months of April, May, June, and July, appears
most beautifully adorned with very large spikes of papiliona-
ceous blossoms, of a purple colour, which are succeeded by a
fruit, of the shape, size, and appearance of a green walnut ;
being a drupa, containing one oval kernel, inclosed in a hard,
smooth, thin shell.

The most usual way of exhibiting this bark is in decoction.
About an ounce, or an ounce and a half, grossly powdered,
may be boiled in a quart of water, until it is reduced to half a
pint By this time the decoction becomes very high coloured,
like old Madeira wine, or porter ; but if it should not then *U

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Q5S cownAQBi

tain that colour (which is generally looked on aft the criteria
of its being properly prepared) the boiling most bet coatiaort
longer ; for in a strong decoction only the efficacy lies.

The taste of this decoction is not unpalatable, nor is it from
any bitterness that the bark derives its efficacy, as some haw
imagined ; but from a specific quality, powerfully noxious to ill
kinds of worms bred in the human body.

The dose to children is from a table-spoonful to a small wine
glass full. Adults of a strong constitution may venture on a
large wine glass full. Of this decoction a dose proportionable
to the age and constitution of the patient is to be given, either
simply, or sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses, for three
or four mornings successively.

A dose of some medicine of the purgative kind should be then
interposed ; such as jalap, rhubarb, sal* glaub., or what is suH
better, as more immediately answering the intention, an ounce
of oleum ricini.

Besides the decoction, this bark has been found efficacious
when taken in substance finely powdered. From five grains to
a scruple may with safety be ventured on, and even further:
combined with jalap, it operates with greater certainty of suc-
cess than when exhibited by itself.

The ill success of this bark in some oases (continues Mr*
Chamberlaine) induced me to make some inquiry concerning a
medicine which I had heard of, as being successfully given, in
many parts, to all patients afflicted with complaints arising, or
supposed to arise, from worms ; and that, not only by regular
practitioners, but even by ignorant negroes, at random, and
without any just proportion in the dose.

This was the Sttzolobium, or cowhage.
• Satisfied, as 1 said before, of the general efficacy of the cab*
bage tree bark, 1 had never given myself the trouble to make
inquiry about any other more powerful vermifuge; nor did I
think that there could be one more powerful, until the death of
a negro girl, evidently occasioned, as appeared upon my open*
ing her, from vast numbers of worms lodged in the small intes-
tines, convinced me that I had not done my duty, and excited
me to push my inquiries in search of a more efficacious median*
•till further.

I had heard so much of the cowhage, or cowitch, that I re*
solved to make trjal of it

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COWHAOE. '

The substance which is known by this name is the rigid, hairy-
coat, somewhat in appearance similar to the pile of velvet, or
rather plash, of a reddish brown colour, which grows on, or
clothes the surface of a pod, in appearance like the pod of our
English scarlet bean, to which plant, indeed, the whole of the
cowhage Tine, both in its foliage and manner of growth, bears
a very near resemblance. This hair, or pile, scraped off and
mixed in some viscid vehicle, is the part to bo employed. The
rest of the plant is useless.

But the different modes of exhibiting the cowhage were as
rarious as the persons who took upon them that office. Oner
administered it in molasses. Castor oil was the favourite vehicle,
of a second ; and a third insisted that it was of no service unless
mixed with honey.

The greater number agreed in giving molasses the preference 7
but there was even among these a considerable disagreement with,
regard to the proportions to be observed in the mixture. While
some cautiously put but two pods of the cowhage into a quart
of molasses, others boldly stirred up two dozen in a like quan-
tity. Some again would have six pods to be sufficient; and
others imagined that some secret virtue, or charm, was to be
expected from having the number neither greater nor less, than
exactly nine.

By some, the setae contained on the outside of a single pod,
mixed with one or two table-spoonsful of syrup, honey, or mow
lasses, was given for a single dose, without distinction, to young
and old. By others, a quantity of each ingredient was mixed
together, without bearing any exact proportion to each other
further than was merely sufficient to bring the composition to
the consistence of an electuary ; and one, two, or three tea*
spoonsful given as a dose to children, and one, and sometimes
two table-spoonsful to adults.

I considered that the wonderful efficacy so generally attri.
bated to cowhage, could not be supposed to arise from any spe-
cific medicinal quality residing in it, so much as from the sharp*
ness and elasticity of the setae, with which the pods are covered,
which take the same effect on worms as they do when applied
to our skin ; the setae piercing, vellicatiug, and tormenting them
in such a manner as obliges them to let go their hold ; acting
like so many needles, as may be plainly demonstrated by view*
ing the setae through a microscope; which shows them to be a

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610 COWHAGE.

Bomber of long spicule, needle-shaped, hollow, transparent,
" and armed with points exquisitely sharp and fine.

The idea that their action is merely mechanical, is supported
by the observations of several very judicious inquirers, who
have made trial of the cowhage, who all agree in the opinion
that it acts in the same manner as hair cut fine, and given with
the same intention ; but much more effectually, because of its
inflexibility, and the exquisite and almost inconceivable sharp*
ncss of its points.

Curious to know how far the application of the setas to the ex-
ternal coats of worms bred in the human body would affect those
animals when expelled from the body, I waited not long before
I had an opportunity of making the experiment.

A calabash full of very large ones, of the teres kind, in full
vigour, voided by a poor emaciated patient, was brought to me*
Among these I sprinkled some of the setae. For a minute or
two no. visible effect was produced ; but in a little time they
began to writhe and twist themselves in an unusual manner, and
exhibited evident signs of extreme torture. I took one of the
worms, and, viewing it through a magnifying glass, perceived
that several of the sets had pierced very deep, and others were
sticking loosely in various parts of its body, but that none of
the spicule which had once entered into the skin dropped off.

Convinced in a short time, both from what I had heard, and
from my own experiments on the internal exhibition of cowitch,
of the safety and efficacy of this incomparable medicine, I laid
aside the cabbage tree bark, and for several years have used no
other vermifuge than this.

My usual way of preparing and administering the cowhage is
in the form of an electuary, with honey, molasses, or syrup of
a thick consistence. Formerly I was not in the habit of ob-
serving any exact proportion of the quantity of the setae ; bit
as, since the publication of the former editions of this Treatise,
the demand for it has increased beyond my expectations, I hate
found it necessary to adopt certain formulae for ascertaining the
proportions ; which proportions, although I find them in general
to answer very well, I nevertheless, in some particular cases,
find it necessary to vary, for there never yet existed any general
rule to which some exception or exceptions could not be found*
After repeated trials and experiments, in the course of nve-aod-
twenty years, (during which period I hare been in the constant

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COWHAGE. 641

ffmstant habit of exhibiting the cowhage as an anthelmintic,)
made with a view of finding out the West vehicle for this sub-
stance, I cannot say that I have found any less exceptionable
than the good old vehicle, common treacle, such as is to be had
at every grocer's. I have tried conserves, but children cannot
be prevailed on so readily to take them. Honey would not be
an incommodious vehicle, but it is not with every stomach hooey
will agree ; for it is well known that in some constitutions vio-
lent colicky complaints are brought on by the smallest quantity
of honey, or even by drinking any kind of vinous liquor into
which honey enters as an ingredient : and there are these advan-
tages in treacle : first, that every body knows what it is : se-
condly, there are few children who do not like it : thirdly, it is
not apt to be spoiled, or to ferment, unless kept in too warm a
place: and lastly, it is gently aperient, and, in that view, an
auxiliary to the principal ingredient. But if, from a dblike of
treacle, some other vehicle would be preferred, raspberry jam
or currant jelly will prove very good substitutes.

At the request of some indulgent parents, in order to cheat
into compliance such of their children as could not be prevailed
on to take any thing that has the appearance of a medicine, I
was induced to turn in my mind how to exhibit the cowhage in
the form of a lozenge ; and after some trials succeeded in fixing
on a formula that answers pretty well. It consists of a due pro-
portion of things extremely simple, — sugar, Indian arrow-root,
and gum tragacanth ; but no efficient article, except the cowhage.

But though I have had many communications of the good ef-
fects of the lozenges, I cannot say I place so much dependence
on them, or recommend them in my own practice, (unless where
I meet with refractory and spoiled children, that are masters
and mistresses over their mammas,) as I find the simple elec-
tuary, made with nothing but cowhage and treacle, answer every
purpose.

- Of this electuary, a tea-spoonful is in general found to be
a sufficient dose for children from infancy to the age of six or
eight ; from thence to fourteen, a dessert-spoonful is found to
answer well, and for all above that age, a table-spoonful. For-
merly I thought it might be sufficient if taken once a day, but
experience has shown me that it answers better when taken
twice; viz. at night, going to bed, and in the morning, an hour

* T

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6*3 COWHAGE.

before breakfast; and though little or no previous medkiseii
necessary, yet it is generally fonnd to operate more effectual!*
where a gentle emetic (provided nothing forbids it) has been pi*
mised.

The cowhage, after being begun upon, is to be con tinned for
three or four days, after which, some brisk purgative, such u
jalap, or infusion of senna, or in short whatever purging median
Is known to agree best with the patient, is to be taken ; wind
will in general bring away the worms, if there be any. Aim*
wards the cow h age is to be continued as long as there may seen
occasion, repeating the purgative at intervals of three orfoar
days.

For the tape worm, long experience has taught me, that tfct
cowhage does not prove so effectual as against the other worn,
unless the quantity of sets be doubled. In very obstinate cm
I sometimes find it necessary to increase the quantity of seta
even to a threefold proportion ; for they will not easily be«s»
to let go their hold, which they are as tenacious of as they an
of life.

Every one that knows what cowhage or cowitch is, mast st
sensible, that if the least particle of it comes in contact win tk
skin, it causes a most intolerant itching, and sometimes, in very
delicate skins, no smaM degree of inflammation where it files.
A single bristle of it, so small as to be invisible to the naksi
eye, is sufficient to cause this inconvenience for a time, bat it
soon goes off. Microscopic observations show ns that the sett
are hollow, and conical, gradually lessening from the base, wrti
they terminate in the finest point that can possibly be imagined.

Here, then, the question may very naturally be asked, "V
these finely-pointed spiculae, when applied externally to any put
of the surface of the skin, occasion such tormenting and brto-
lerable itching, sometimes almost even to madness, may there sst
be "danger of injury to the coats of the stomach and intestia*
from so many sharp swords, as it were, received into the s&
meutary canal ?" To this I answer, not the smallest degree rf
danger is to be apprehended. The many thousands who fcft*
taken it without any Ui effect, show its perfect safety. If*
little honey, or treacle, be found sufficient to defend the lender
nervous papillae of the lips, fauces, and oesophagus, frota the
troublesome effects of the setae, certainly the mucus of thoih>

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CQW9A0K. <Mff

i and intestines > which is the guard provided by nature to
protect the villous coat of these viscera from injnry, will be very
sufficient to defend those parts from the irritation of the aete.-^-
A daughter of my own, when about five years old, contrived
to lay hold of a gallypot that contained, bet ween three and four
ounces of the common preparation of it ;( and, secreting herself
in a corner, made one meal of it— but without any other in-
convenience than a smart diarrhoea, which did her more good
4han harm. I can with truth aver, that I have never met with,
in my own practice, any ill effects resulting even from the most
liberal use of the cowhage in any form*

We are not to suppose, that after worms have been expelled
from the system, the patient is never again to be troubled with
them. The same causes existing, which proved favourable to
their multiplication in the first instance, will favonr their rege.
iteration. We are not therefore to sit down, content with having
got rid of our enemies for the present, and with them a great
Bomber of bad symptoms which they occasioned, bnt so to in-
vigorate the constitution as to prevent, if possible, their future
attacks. In cases where they have greatly debilitated the system,
much attention is required, to enable the patient to recover
strength. But, as no practioner whatever can be ignorant of
what is necessary to be done on such occasions, to enter into
any long discussion, on this part of the subject, would be su-
perfluous. As far as medicine is concerned, the tonic plan will
be proceeded on ; the Peruvian bark, quassia, and preparations
of steel.

The following are amongst the testimonials produced in favour
of this remedy.

Letter from Dr. Thornton, Lecturer on Medical Botany at *

Guy's Hospital.

To Mr. Chamberlains.

Sir, I perceive by an advertisement, that you propose, in the

course of next month, to give the world a new edition of your

mirabie work, on the Staolobium or cowhage, the Dolichos pru-

liens of Linnaeus. Regularly educated as I have been to physic,

mad to the science of botany, I could not fail to notice effects

••id, by so respectable an authority, to have arisen from the use

of an exotic plant; and, not to particularise cases, I must beg

3 t 2

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644 ccrwHAtsm.

leave publicly to declare, that the remedy you have introduced
into this part of the world, bids, as /far as my experiencs
reaches, the most fair for success, of any, in all cases of worms.
Conscious that the vitality of this tribe of beings may differ
widely from our own, I have tried, among other remedies, evet
what others might not have ventured on, even had they sap.
posed good could have arisen. In one case I even ventured
upon arsenic to destroy the lumbrici : but the case was that of
insanity. In another, to destroy the ascarides, I injected dis-
solved ice into the rectum : but here the individual had a cancer
with this other disease ; and life was insupportable. But neither
the intensity of cold, or the most powerful mineral poison, pro.
duced the cure. In both these cases, other applications failing,
I afterwards tried yonr Stizolobinm with advantage. Rough
pewter filings have done much good, and are in truth a verr
rough remedy : but your Stizolobinm acts also mechanically, yet
not injuriously. The stomach and intestines are saffideotij
coated with mucus to be secure of their spicule : but the worn*
which may come into contact with these weapons of offense, an
sure to become pierced thereby ; and thus wounded, are carried
by the peristaltic motion throughout the intestinal tube, and
ejected. There are certain juices offensive to different animals.
Thus, the expressed juice of the ranunculus, (the common
butter cup,) sprinkled over the ground, will bring up all tin
worms in that spot ; and the smell of asafostida will drive awaj
wild fowl ; yet it is a doubt how far any hitherto discovered*
remedy acts as a destroyer of worms. The fern-roet maj be
eaten in pounds, and therefore, as far as regards us, is inactfre,
and probably is such with respect to one species of worm, tk
taenia; but the drastic purge afterwards employed, sometime
removes the enemy. Not so your Stizolobium; — mechanical
action we all understand ;— and were I sure that we had as jet
arrived at the real poison of these reptiles, one not at all detri-
mental to ourselves, as parsley kills a parrot, and other sock
facts known to botanists, that I should rather recommend watt
succeeds sud virtute than what destroys only by mechanical
action. In this state of our science, however, lam happy m
bear testimony in favour of your West Indian plant ; whatefff
worms it comes into contact with, undefended by the mom
of the bowels or its folds, these it is sure to seize upon and

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COWHAGE, 645

imtroy ; and proves in consequence a very safe and desirable
Temedy, and one extremely worthy the attention of the faculty
and the public m general. — I remain, Sir,

With much respect and esteem,

Your faithful obedient servant,
Robert John Thornton, M, D.
Jfa 1, Hind-street, Manchester-square,
October 24 th, 1804.

Dr. Squire.

I have, in' my own practice, seen many instances of the happy
effects of your cowhage, and have the satisfaction to report,
that many more have been communicated to me by correspon-
dents, to whom I have recommended it, as a safe and powerful
anthclmintick.

The case of my nephew, as communicated to you by the
Rev. P. Brodie, of Winterslow, is a very striking one. That
yonog gentleman was supposed to be subject to epileptic fits,
the symptoms of that disorder and of worms being in many
instances equivocal. I advised a trial of the cowhage, which I
procured from you several times, and sent to Salisbury, That
trial was attended with the happiest effects. To the best of my
recollection, more than 150 large teretes were dislodged, and the
patient recovered. I consider the cowhage, as a vermifuge, a
most valuable remedy, acting mechanically ; by which operation
it must be less prejudicial to the constitution than the exhibition
of drastic purges.
Ely-place, Holborn.

Copy of a Letter from the Rev. P. B. Brodie, Rector of
Winterslow, neat' Salisbury .

To Mr. Chamberlains.

Sir, A young gentleman in the county of Wilts, at the age of
10 years, had manifest and violent symptoms of worms. We
tried several remedies, but had the misfortune to see his body
debilitated, his sight very much injured, and the vital functions
in general much impaired. His case was communicated to
Dr. Squire, who prescribed, and was kind enough to take the
trouble of sending to us your medicine; we administered it ac-
cording to your directions, with a previous emetic.

After some days, he evacuated one worm about three inches

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646 COWHAGE.

long; and after repeated doses, fire more; bat besides the
emetic, we had given him some physic. After this, we panted
awhile, and soon after the recommencement of oar operation
he produced io one day no less than sixty worms (terete*) of
different lengths, from three to sixteen or eighteen inches, all
alive, and without any slime. We continued our mode of pro-
ceeding, but by some circumstances we were led to imagine that
the action of digging assisted our endeavours ; we gave the ex-
periment a fair trial, and found that we were more successfal
when he used that exercise than when he omitted it. Upoa
the whole, in the course of taking three or four pots of your
medicine he evacuated 165 worms, between the sizes above
mentioned, bat most of them above the average size, and those
all alive, and the greater part of them with the spiculae of the
Cowhage sticking in them ; besides a great many dead ones.

We flattered ourselves he was quite relieved : but found it
requisite within the year to have recourse to you again ; he
evacuated twenty worms, and has been perfectly well ever since,
This is, as far as I recollect, an exact and true account, and if
it can serve the public or you to insert it in the next edition of
your book, you are welcome to it for that purpose, and to the
name also of Your most humble servant,

P. B. Brodie.
Rector of Winterslow, near Salisbury.
July 23, 1792.

Da. Underwood.

-But one of the most powerful means, long in use with

country practitioners, and of late strongly recommended hy
Mr. Chamberlaine, is the Dolichos pruriens, variously prepared;
but the most simple form, that of giving it mixed up with treade,
is, perhaps, the best of all. It should be taken night and morn-
ing for three or four days, and then be purged off with sesat
tea, or jalap, and this course be repeated as occasion may n>
quire.— Underwood on the Diseases of Children, vol. L p. 149.
3d Edit 1790.

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COMMON LIQUORICE.

GLYCYRRHIZA GLABRA.

Clasi XVII. Diadelphia. Order IV. Decaadria.
festEWT. Gait. Char. Calyx two-lipped. Legumen ovate, compressed.
Spec. Char. Legumes smooth. Stipules none. Pinnm petioled, ending
with an odd one.

DESCRIPTION.

The root is round, and runs to a very considerable extent.
The stems rise five feet or more. The leaves are pinnated, al-
ternate, composed of several pair of pinnae, which are ovate,
blunt, veined, of a pale green. Flowers papilionaceous, stand-
ing nearly erect, on long spikes.

HISTORY.

Liquorice is a perennial plant, a native of the south of
Europe, and flowers in August ; but the roots, which are raised
for medical purposes in considerable quantities in England, are
preferred to those imported from abroad, which are very fre.

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648 COMMO* LIQUORICE. "

queotly mouldy and spoiled* The roots are Yery long, abort
an Inch thick, flexible, fibrous, externally of a brown colour,
internally yellow, and, when fresh, juicy. Their taste is Tery
sweet, combined with a slight degree of bitter when long kept
in the mouth. They are prepared for use by peeling them,
cutting away all the fibres and decayed parts. It is necessary
to preserre them in a very dry place, as they are extremely apt
to spoil.

The powder of liquorice usually sold is often mingled with
flour, and perhaps also with substances not so wholesome. The
best sort is of a brownish yellow colour, the fine pale yellow
being generally sophisticated, and it is of a very rich sweet taste,
much more agreeable than that of the fresh root.

Neumann got from 960 parts of dried liquorice, 300 alcoholic
extract, and afterwards 210 watery; and inversely, 540 watery,
and only 30 alcoholic* The original alcoholic extract is the
•wee test

MEDICAL USE.

Its predominant constituents being saccharine and mucila-
ginous matter, its only action is that of a mild demulcent, and
as such it is frequently used in catarrh, and in some stomach
complaints, which seem to arise from a deficiency of the natural
mucus, which should defend the stomach against the acrimony
of the food, a.nd the fluids secreted into it.

On account of its bu\\ it is rarely exhibited in substance, but
more frequently in infusion or decoction.

OFFICINAL PREPARATIONS.

Extract of Liquorice. (Extractum Radicis Glycyrrhiza
glabrae. )

The liquorice root is to be boiled, in eight times its weight of
water, to one half ; the liquor is then to be expressed, and,
after the faeces have subsided, to be filtered ; it is then to be era-
porated, with a heat between 200° and 212°, until it becomei
thickish; and, lastly, it is to be evaporated with a heat N
than 200P, and frequently stirred, until it acquire a consistence
.proper for forming pills. This is made into little pastils or flat
cakes, oftentimes bearing the impression of the places where
they are made ; and a bit now and then put into the mouth takes
off the tickling of a cough. It should be sucked to make it
pleasant, as much of the juice taken at the time is unpleasant,

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COMMON LIQUORICE. 619

Troches op Liquorice. (Trochisci Glycyrrhizae. E.)
Take of extract of liquorice ;

■ gum arabic, of each, one part ;
— — white sugar, two parts :

Dissolve them in warm water, and strain ; then evaporate the
solution over a gentle fire till it be of a proper consistence for
being formed into troches.

Troche9 of Liquorice. (Trochisci Glycyrrhizae. L.)
Take of extract of liquorice ;

■ double refined sugar, of each, ten ounces ;

■ tragacanth, powdered, three ounces :

Powder them thoroughly, and make them into troches with rose
water.

These are both agreeable pectorals, and may be used at plea-
sure in tickling coughs. The latter of these two receipts is the
easiest and best mode of making these troches. Refined extract
of liquorice should be used ; and it is easily powdered in the
cold, after it has been laid for some days in a dry and rather
warm place. The solution and subsequent evaporation directed
by the Edinburgh college is exceedingly troublesome, and apt
to give them an empyreumatic flavour.

Liquorice Troches with Opium. (Trochisci Glycyrrhizae

cum Opio. E.)
Take of opium, two drachms;
• tincture of Toln, half an ounce;

common syrup, eight ounces ;

extract of liquorice, softened in warm water,

gum arable, in powder, of each five ounces :

Triturate the opium well with the tincture, then add by degrees
the syrup and extract ; afterwards gradually mix in the powdered
gum arabic. Lastly, dry them so as to form a mass, to be di-
vided into troches, each weighing ten grains.

These directions for preparing the above troches are so full
and particular, that no further explanation is necessary ; seven
and a half, contain about one grain of opium. These troches
are medicines of approved efficacy in tickling coughs depending
on the irritation of the fauces. Besides the mechanical effect of
the viscid matters in involving acrid humours, or lining and de.
fending the tender membranes, the opium no doubt must have a
considerable effect, by more immediately diminishing the irrita-
bility of the parts themselves.

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RED SAUNDERS TREE.

PTEROCARPUS SANTALINUS.

Class XVII. Diadelphla. Order III. Decaodrfau
Kisent. Gew. Char. Valyx five-toothed : CaptuU falcated, foliacMft,

varicose: Seed solitary.
Srifc. Char. Leaves teroate, roundish, retnse, very smooth: Petals of tk

ctrella crenate, undulate.

DESCRIPTION.
A large tree. Leaves in threes, ovate, blunt, somewhat notched
at the end, somewhat veined. Flowers yellow, in spikes, pa-
pilionaceous.

HISTORY.

Native of the East ladies, growing on mountainous situation!.
MEDICAL VIRTUE.

The juice of this tree affords what is styled $angm draco**,
dragon's blood, and has been thought good in spitting of blood
probably from its colour. The only use to which it seems to bt
generally applied, is to give a fine colour to medicines, whose
aspect might otherwise nauseate a weak stomach.

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COMMON BROOM.

SPARTIUM SCOPARIUM,

Class XVII. Diadelphia. Order III. Decandria.
Eamrr. Gm. Char. Stigma longitudinal, above villous t Filaments ad-
hering to the gemen : Calyx produced downwards.
Sp.ec. Csub, Leaves ternate, and single : Branches unarmed, angular.

DESCRIPTION.

This tree grows to six or seven feet in height. The leaves are
mall and downy, the inferior leaves in threes, those above single.
The flowers very large, and numerous, of a bright yellow. The
stamens with the pistillum have a remarkable curve.

HISTORY.
Native of Britain, and flowers in April and May.

MEDICAL USB.

The tops of the broom have a bitter, and rather disagreeable
taste. Infusions, decoctions, and extracts made with them, have

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652 COMMON BROOM.

freed recommended as powerful diuretics in dropsies, when joined
with nitre, sal-diureticus, or other neutral salts; and if taken in
sufficient quantity they prove likewise purgative. The infusions
have been given in doses of one, two, or more ounces, frequently
repeated, — the extract from half a drachm to a drachm and a
half.

Dr. Cullen says, " The broom, though very little in use, I have
inserted in my catalogue (of cathartics) from my own experience
of it. I found it first in use among our common people; but I
have since prescribed it to some of my patients in the manner
following: — I order half an ounce of fresh broom tops to be
boiled in a pound of water till one half of this is consumed, and
of this decoction I give two table-spoonfuls every hour till it
operates by stool, or till the whole is taken. It seldom fails to
operate both by stool and urine, and by repeating this exhibi-
tion every day, or every second day, some dropsies have been
cured."

The seeds have been used for the same purposes as the tops.
The ashes of the broom have long had the reputation of being
very powerful diuretics, and they are an ingredient in most of
the diuretic wines and infusions prepared fifty or sixty years
ago ; but whether the alkaline salts of these ashes are rendered
more powerfully diuretic by the mixture of an oil, or any other
foreign substance got from the broom in burning, than- the alka-
line salts got from other vegetables, I think is much to be
doubted.

The seeds when roasted have been used as coffee. The bark,
for tanning.

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FENUGREEK.

TRIGONELLA FOENUM GR^ECUM.

Class XVII. Diadelphia. Order III. Decandria.
1 ftaENT. Gen. Char. Banner and Wings subequal, patent ; the form of
the corolla at if three-petalled.
Spec. Char. Legumes senile, stiff, nearly erect, somewhat falcate,
pointed: Stem erect.

DESCRIPTION.
T his plant rises two feet in height The leaves are oblong,
serrated, veined, and stand ia threes upon a common footstalk.
Flowers white, papilionaceous, appearing in pairs from the al«
of the leaves. The pericarp is at first a straight legume, but
afterwards becomes falcated.

HISTORY.
Native of Montpellier, and flowers from June till August

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
The seeds are imported to us from the south of France, and
principally used in cataplasms and fomentations, for softening,
maturating, and discussing tumors, and in emollient glysters.

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GOATS THORN, or MILK VETCH.

ASTRAGALUS TRAGACANTHA.

Cfets XVII. Diadelphia. Order 111. Decandria.
Etscirr. Gen. Char, Legumen bilocular, g ibbous.
Spbc. Chab. Caudtx arborescent : Petioles a spine*

DESCRIPTION.
The plant is small, shrubby, clothed with brown fibres, and
beset with strong spines, Leaves pinnated, pinnss numerous,
attached to a strong spinous footstalk. Flowers large, of a pale

yellow, in close clusters.

HISTORY.

Gum tragacanth is the produce of a very thorny shrub, which*
grows on the island of Candia, and other places in the Leraot

About the end of June a fluid exudes from the stem and larger
branches, which dries in the sun, and is collected by the shep-
herds on. Mount Ida, from whence, it is sent to £u rope under
the title of Tragacanth.

It consists of whitish semitransparent vermiform pieces, sored/
a line in thickness, without taste or smell.

There is also a dirty yellow, or brownish kind, which is art
fit for medical purposes.

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GOAT98 THOftK, OB MILK TETCH. 055

Tragacanth is difficultly pulverizable, unless when thoroughly
dried, and the mortar heated, or in frost According to Neu-
man, it gives nothing oyer in distillation, either to water or al.
cohol : alcohol dissolves only about 10 parts of 480, and water
the whole. Lewis, however, more accurately observes, that it
cannot be properly said to be dissolved ; for, put into water, it
absorbs a large proportion of that fluid, increasing immensely in
volume, and forming with it a soft, but not fluid, mucilage ; and
although it is easily diffused through a larger proportion of wa-
ter, after standing a day or two, the mucilage subsides again,
the supernatant fluid retaining little of the gum.

Besides these remarkable differences from gum arabic in regard
to brittleness, insolubility, and the quantity of water which it
thickens, I find, says Dr. Duncan, jun., that tragacanth is not pre-
cipitated by sib'cized potash, and is precipitated by sulphate of
copper, and acetate of lead.

MEDICAL USE.

In pharmacy it is employed for forming powders into troches,
and rendering tough cohesive substances pulverizable, by beating
them with mucilage of tragacanth, and then drying the mass. For
electuaries it is improper, as it renders them slimy on keeping.

OFFICINAL PREPARATIONS.

Mucilage of Gum Tragacanth. (Mucilago Astragali Tra-
gacanthae. £.)

Take of gum tragacanth, in powder, one ounce ;

■ boiling water, eight ounces :

Macerate for twenty-four hours ; then triturate carefully, that
the gum may be dissolved; and press the mucilage through
linen cloth.

Mucilaob or Tragacanth. (Mucilago Tragacanthae. L.)

Take of tragacanth, half an ounce ;

Distilled water, ten ounces, by measure :
Macerate them, with a gentle beat, till the tragacanth be dis-
solved.

Gum tragacanth is difficultly soluble in water. When mace-
rated in it, it swells, but does not dissolve. To effect the solu-
tion, it must be beaten into a paste with some of the water ; and
the rest of the water must be added gradually, and incorporated
with the paste, by beating them together.

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056 goat's thorn, or milk vetch.

Compound Powder of Traoacanth. (Pulris Tragacaatha
Compositus. L.)

Take of tragacanth, powdered,

■ gum arabic,

. starch, of each an ounce and a half;

■ double refined sugar, three ounces;
Rub them together into a powder.

This composition is a mild emollient ; and hence becomes ser-
viceable in hectic cases, tickling coughs, strangury, some kinds
of al vine fluxes, and other disorders proceeding from a thin acri-
monious state of the excreted fluids, or an abrasion of the mucus
of the intestines ; it is supposed to soften, and give a greater de-
gree of consistency to the former, and defend the latter from
being irritated or excoriated by them. All the ingredients coin,
cide in these general intentions. The dose is from half a drachm
to two or three drachms, which may be frequently repeated.

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ORANGE.

CITRUS AURANTIUM.

Class XVIII. Polyadelphia. Order III. Icosandria.
Essent. Gaw. Char. Calyxy five-cleft : Petals five, oblong : Anthers 20 :

Filaments united into different bodies.
Spec. Char. Petioles winged : Leaves acuminate.

DESCRIPTION.
This beautiful plant, which gives a refreshing shade in warm
climates, and perfumes the air for miles, at the same time re-
galing the delicate taste with a sweet luxuriant juice, equally
grateful as wholesome, and which is imported in immense abun-
dance to us from abroad, is found adorning our green. houses, and
in the height of summer our gardens, in large tubs, or pots, and
they often have the appearance of handsome trees. The leaves
are nearly elliptical, smooth, entire, of a shining green colour,
and the footstalk is winged, that is, it has the appearance of a
small leaf. The flowers appear during the whole of summer,
and some branches are in full bloom whilst others are just going
off, and on others appear the young or fully grown oranges.
The calyx is salver-shaped, and cut into five small teeth. The
petals are five, oblong, white, fleshy, and beset with small

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658 ORANGE*

glands. Filaments twenty, united at the base into three or
more distinct portions, furnished with yellow anthers. Stigma
globular.

HISTORY.

The orange tree is a beautiful evergreen, a native of Asia, tat
now abundantly cultivated in the southern parts of Europe and
in the West India islands* There are several varieties of thk
species, but they may be all referred to the bitter or Seville
orange, and the sweet or China orange.

The leaves are neither so aromatic nor so bitter as the rind of
the fruit.

The flowers are highly odoriferous, and have been long is
great esteem as a perfume ; their taste is somewhat warm, ac-
companied with a degree of bitterness. They yield their flaToar
by infusion to rectified spirits, and in distillation both to spirit
and water : the bitter matter is dissolved by water, and on eva-
porating, the decoction remains entire in the extract.

A very fragrant red-coloured oil, distilled from these flowen,
is brought from Italy, under the name of oleum or essentia a*
roli; but oil of behen, in which orange flowers have been di-
gested, is frequently substituted for it : the frautf, however, ■
easily detected, as the real oil is entirely volatile, and the adaL
terated is not

The juice of oranges is a grateful acid liquor, coexisting pan*
cipally of citric acid, syrup, extractive, and mucilage.

The outer yellow rind of the fruit is a grateful aromatic bitter*

The unripe fruit, dried, are called Curacoa oranges. TVy
vary in sixe, from that of a pea to that of a cherry. They an
bitterer (ban the rind of ripe oranges, bnt not so aromatic, aad
are used as a stomachic.

MEDICAL USE.

The juice of the fruit is of considerable use in febrile or ia-
flammatory distempers, for allaying heat, quenching thirst, aaa*
promoting the salutary excretions : it is likewise of use in ge-
nuine scorbutus, or sea scurvy. Although the Seville, or bitter
orange, as it is called, has alone a place in our pharmacopoeias
yet the China, or sweet orange, is much more employed, fii
juice is milder, and less acid ; and is very frequently used n ifr
most simple state with great advantage.

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ORANGE. * 659

CULINARY PREPARATIONS.

Method of obtaining the fragrant Essences from the fresh Hinds
of Citrons, Oranges, &c.

Procure as many fresh citrons from the Italian warehouses as
will supply the required stock of essence; after cleaning off any
speck in the outer' rinds of the fruity break off a large piece of
loaf sugar, and rub the citron on it till the yellow rind is com-
pletely absorbed. Ihose parts of the sugar which are impreg-
nated with the essence, are from time to time to be cut away with
a knife, and put in an earthen dish. The whole being thus taken
os?, the sugared essence is to be closely pressed, and put by in
pots ; where it is to be squeezed down hard, hare a bladder orer
the paper by which it is covered, and tied tightly up. It is at
any time ft for use, and will keep for many years. Exactly in
the same manner may be obtained and preserved, at the proper
seasons, from the fresh roots, the essences of the rinds of Se-
ville or China oranges, lemons or limes, bergamots, &&, some
of which are often unattainable, in a fresh state, at any price.
This mode of extracting and preserving these essences is superior
to the eommon practices of peeling, rasping, or grating off the
rind, and afterward mixing it up with powdered sugar, &c

Orange Wine.

Pat twelve pounds of powdered sugar, with the whites of
eight or ten eggs well beaten, into six gallons of spring water,
boil them three quarters of an hour; when cold, put into it six
spoonfuls of yeast, and the juice of twelve lemons, which, being
pared, must stand with two pounds of white sugar in a tankard,
and in the morning skim off the top, and then put it into the
water ; add the juice and rinds of fifty oranges, but not the
white or pithy parts of the rinds ; let it work all together two
days and two nights ; then add two quarts of Rhenish or white
wine, and put it into your vessel.

Orange or Lemon Pie.

Rub six oranges or lemons with salt, and put them into wa-
ter, with a handful of salt in it, for two days. Put every day
fresh water without salt, for a fortnight. Boil them tender, cut
them into half quarters corner- ways, quite thin. Boil six pip*
pins pared, cored, and quartered, in a pint of water till the/
break ; then pat die liquor to the oranges or lemons, with half

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060 ORAtfGB.

the' palp of the .pippins well broken, and a pound of sugar. Boil
them a quarter of an hoar, then put them into a pot and sqoets*
in two spoonfuls of the juice of either orange or lemon, accord-
ing to the kind of tart Put puff paste, very thin, into shallow
patty-pans. Take a feather, or brush, and rub them over with
melted butter, sift double refined sugar over them, which will
form a pretty iceing, and put them in the oren.

Orange Tarts.

Grate a little of the outside of a Seville orange, squeeze the
juice into a dish, put the peel into water, and change it often
for four days. Then put them into a saucepan of boiling water
on die tire. Change the water twice to take out the bitterness,
and when tender, wipe, and beat them fine in a mortar. Boi
their weight in double refined sugar into a syrup, and skim it
Then put in the pulp, and boil all together till dear. When
cold, put it into the tarts, squeeze in the juice, and bake them
in a quick oven. Conserve of oranges makes good tarts.

Orange Puffs.

Pare off the rinds from Seville oranges, then rub them with
salt: let them lie twenty-four hoars in water; boil them in four
changes of water, make the first salt ; drain, and beat them to
a pulp : bruise in the pieces of all that you have pared, make it
very sweet with loaf sugar, and boil it till thick ; let it stand tff
cold, and then put it into the paste.

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LEMON.

CITRUS MEDICA.

Clan XVIII. Polyadelphia. Order III. Icotandria.
Euent. Gen. Char. Same as the preceding.
Spec. Char. Petioles linear.

DESCRIPTION.
This evergreen resembles the orange, to which it is closely
allied, but the leaves are commonly larger, slightly indented at
the edges, and the footstalk without having the remarkable ap-
pendage of the other. The flowers are very like the other, but
have a purplish tinge on the outer side of the petals. The fruit
is less round, and has a prominent apex. The fruit is divided
into nine cells.

HISTORY.
This tree is a native of the upper parts of Asia, from whence
it was brought to Greece, and afterwards by Paladius to Italy *.

• Etenim citrtu apod Mcdos et Pereas imprimis frequent, de in Paladii
diligpntia in Italiam translaia fuit : pottea in Hispania in usum dcvenit, ut
nemora et canpos occuparit.— Baub. Pin. p. 435.

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662 LEMON.

Although it has been doobted whether Paladins was really As
first cultivator of this tree in Italy, yet it is evident it couW not
have been propagated there long before his time, as appears by
the writings of Pliny*; nor is its cultivation noticed by Van*,
Cato, or Colu mel la-
After its introduction into Europe, we find Spain, Portugal,
and France, became successively possessed of this valuable plant,
with its congeners ; and the Hesperian fruits are now produced
in such abundance, that their exportation gives rise to a lucrative
branch of commerce.

The lemon tree, like the orange, is common in our green-
houses ; and, according to the Hortus Kewensis, was first culti-
vated in Britain in the Oxford garden, previous to the year

1648 +.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

Lemon juice is a powerful and agreeable antiseptic. Its powen
are much increased, according to Dr. Wright, by saturating it
with muriate of soda. This mixture he recommends as possenv
ing rery great efficacy in dysentery, remittent fever, the belly*
ach, putrid sore throat, and as being perfectly specific in dia*
betes and lientery. Citric acid is often used with great suc-
cess for allaying vomiting : with this intention it is mixed wits
carbonate of potass, from which it expels the carbonic add with
effervescence. This mixture should be drunk as soon as it it
made; or the carbonic acid gas, on which actually the anti-
emetic power of this mixture depends, may be extricated in tin
stomach itself, by first swallowing the carbonate of potass ab-
solved in water, and drinking immediately afterwards the ctofc
acid properly sweetened. The doses are about a scrapie of tat
carbonate dissolved in eight or ten drachms of water, ami ai
ounce of lemon juke, or an equivalent quantity of citric acat

Lemon juice is also an ingredient in many pleasant refrigerant
drinks, which are of very great use in allaying febrile heat and
thirst Of these, the most generally useful is lemonade, or &
luted lemon juice, sweetened.

We are now to speak io the cure of scurry. — From what
we ourselves have seen of the disease, or learned from the wri-
tings of authors, we believe that fresh esculent vegetables of sQ
kinds will cure it ; but that those fruits abounding with an add,

* See Hist. Nat. 1. 18. c. 3. t See Hort. Oxta. e*. L

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LH09. 063

such as the citric class, are more effectual than others. Mott
vegetables possess in their recent state a portion of acid, though
so small as not always to be perceived, and in proportion as it
abounds in them, and perceptible to our taste, they have a su-
perior antiscorbutic quality » The lemon, lime, shaddock, and
orange, in the order we have set them down, give out the citric
acid in different degrees of purity. This genus of fruit has ad.
vantages above all others ; for as it approaches to maturity the
acid is not altered for the worse, but rather purer than before.
The unripe gooseberry has the citric and oxalic adds combined
in its juice, and there can be no doubt but it is equally as effec-
tual as the lemon. 1 recommended this, says Dr. Trotter, to
be carried to sea ; and have since seen in a newspaper, where
a number of scorbutic sailors in an East Indiaman were cured
in their passage outwards by some unripe gooseberries that were
preserved for making tarts. The malic acid is pure in the apple
just before it is ripe, but it has less afterwards. The last case
of scurvy which I treated was cured by apples. This, with the
recovery of the seamen in the Berwick, at Torbay, sufficiently
proves that apples are valuable antiscorbutics.

The cases in which I last administered the juice of lemons and
oranges for the cure of scurvy are worth narrating. Some time
in November, 1789, eighty Irish convicts came from Newfound,
land in company with the ships returning from that station to
England. These convicts, to the number of 130 or 140, had
been shipped at Dublin some time before. The master of the
Teasel in which they sailed, bad orders to land or dispose of them
somewhere in the territories of the United States of America.
Instead, however, of fulfilling his contract wilh government, and
obeying orders, he resolved upon making the best bargain with
his prisoners. Those who had cash paid it to him for their li-
berty ; among the rest was a noted Roman catholic priest, who
bad been convicted of forgery. When he had strtpt them of all
the money and clothes which they had, they were, men and wo-
meo, turned on shore in the island of Newfoundland. Here,
with the little provision he had given them, they were to make
the best of it. Some perished in the woods from hunger and
fatigue, and others reached different settlements in the bland.
The circumstances of their situation soon reached vice-admiral
Ddilbank, then commander in chief on that station, who ordered
them to be collected and secured, and a ship fitted to carry them

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Q64 LEMOW.

to England. They remained in Portsmouth harbour till the
Deptford, a nary transport, was ordered to convey them to
Dublin, under confoy of his majesty's sloop Drake. The sloop
and transport went to sea, and were obliged to put back to
Cowes Road in distress of weather about the 20th of December.
The master of the transport, at this time, complained to capoia
Countess of the Drake, that the conricts were in a very mu
healthy state, and begged he would order his surgeon's mate to
visit them, the surgeon of the Drake being then absent Tie
young gentleman had been a stranger to the diseases of seamen,
and immediately pronounced that the gaol fever bad broke out
among them. This opinion he conceived from the debilitated
state, the fetor about them, but particularly the large livid spoil
which appeared in different parts of their bodies, and the desire
which many of them expressed for acid fruits and vegetables.
Captain Oqslow, then commanding at Portsmouth in the room
of vice-admiral Roddam, transmitted captain Countess's report
tp the lords commissioners of the admiralty, who, by return of
post, ordered two surgeons to survey the convicts, and report
their situation. The surgeon of the Magnificent, with myself,
was ordered on this business. The first man who made bis ap-
pearance plainly showed that the disease was scurvy ; and when
we came to inquire more particularly into their history, as re-
lated above, there could be little doubt that the complaint was
general. From the time that they embarked at St John's, in
the island of Newfoundland, till now, they had lived on sbip'i
provisions, without any fresh vegetables whatever, at the rate
of two-thirds allowance. Never did I behold together so msoy
wretched fellow-creatures. Those that were clothed had not
shifted for many months ; but the greater part of them west
naked, even without a shirt ; a hammock tied round their shoul-
ders by a rope-yarn was their only shelter from the cold, 8*4
at the same time without a bed to lie upon. It ought to be re-
membered it was now the middle of winter, and the Weather for
some time before had been wet and boisterous.

In our report to the commanding officer of the port, we re*
commended an immediate supply of recent vegetables, clothing,
and bedding ; all of which, much to the credit and humanity of
the admiralty board, were granted, with a surgeon, and what
assistance he chose to call in to attend them.

Few of them were without some symptom of scurvy ; such if

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LEMoir. 66S

*P°HY S^M) Mrid spots on different parts, and contractions of
the hams, &c. This last symptom has generally been accounted
for from blood effused in the interstices of the muscles, or into
the cellular texture. Such an explanation is, indeed, very me*
chanical, but it is not a good one. Had this rigidity and con-
traction been owing to pieces of coagulated blood, there must
hare been some perceptible swelling or distention of the parts;
but none is to be observed : the thigh is shrivelled and less in cir-
cumference than in a healthy state; the tendinous fibres are
also to be traced by their hardness, till they are gradually lost
in the belly of the muscles. Besides, if that explanation could
be admitted, we might with equal propriety say, that the Trismus
and Tetanus, which were met with among the black people,
were produced by the same means, viz. lumps of clotted blood,
distending the temporal, masseter, and other muscles, which
move the lower jaw upwards. And in tetanus how can it be
supposed that the whole muscles of the body could be thrown
into a rigid contraction from any cause of this kind ? These'
conditions of the muscular fibre are certainly much better ex-
plained from the diminished nervous energy : it is this torpor of
the vis viitBj which produces the hebeludo unimt, and renders the
mind as well as the body so little disposed to be affected by the
usual stimuli ; and is a state of the nervous influence more pe-
culiar to scurvy than any other disease*.

Bedding and clothing being immediately furnished to the con-
victs by their lordships' orders, the cure of scurvy was begun
with lemons and oranges. At the same time they had beef and
mutton broth, in which were boiled cabbages, onions, <fec. In
distributing the fresh fruit among them, the only rule that I went
by, was to give roost to those who had the worst symptoms of
the disease. Their recovery, as is commonly remarked in the
scurry, when plentifully served with acid fruits, was astonish-
ingly rapid ; for on the eighteenth day of my attendance they
sailed for Dublin, where they arrived in ten days after, iu per-
fect heatth and spirits.

The great desideratum in long sea voyages is some prepara-
tion of the citric acid, that preserves all its virtues for a length
of time. Different forms have been tried for this purpose. The

* Dr. Blane says, he dissected some subjects, and found no ecchymosis.

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extract recommended to warn!/ by Dr. Lind, bat bam found by
captain Cook and othert of little or no effect. It coaJd scarcely,
indeed^ be expected that any preparation of this kind coold re*
tain the virtues of the recent fruit. It is not only the water
that evaporates, bat the acid it carried off with it, and the tatta
of the remaining juice hat manifestly leu acidity than when it
was squeezed from the lemon ; its powers were not, therefore!
concentrated by that process. A much better method U to bottle
«p the juice immediately as it it squeezed and strained. By let*
ting it stand to clear, it is said that the mudlage may be sepa-
rated, which is the cause of its acquiring a mouWinest and dis-
agreeable taste: but what we gain in one way by these meant
we lose in another ; for during the depuration and precipitation
of the mucilage, a fermentation begins, which very materially
altera the acidity of the juice, and destroys its antiscorbutic qua*
litict. If, therefore, the lemons are fresh, as they ought to be,
with their rind hard and full of aroma, the liquor may be corked
np instantly, to preserve it in perfection.

The best method of giving the lemon or orange juice, it to
allow the patient to suck it from the fruit. With little troaUe
the entire lemon may be preserved for the longest cruize in tight
casks ; and this is, of all others, the surest way of securing the
virtues of the citric acid.

But other methods of concentrating and preserving ibt citric
acid have been lately practised by different chemists. The fol-
lowing process for concentrating the acid juice of citrons, and
rendering it unalterable, was published some time ago by Mr.
Georgius, in the Acts of the Academy of Stockholm. He directs
the juice to be kept for some time in the cellar (I suppose where
it may be cool, and not liable to fermentation) in inverted bot-
tles, in order to separate from it a part of the mucilage, and
then to expose it to a cold from 21° to 23* of Fahrenheit's ther-
mometer. The aqueous part freezes, carrying with it, as it
would appear, a portion of the mucilaginous matter : care must
be taken, as the ice forms, to separate the liquid from it, and die
congelation must be carried on till the ice becomes acid. The
acid thus concentrated is reduced to about one-eighth part of its
original bulk.

This preparation has not yet been tried in practice for the
cure of scurvy, but there can be no doubt of its good effects.
It is much to be wished that government should patronize a trial

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itEMON. est

pt the add concentrated in this manner ; for, when prepared as
It ought to be, it will keep for ages.

The juice of lemons and limes has been often recommended by
tome of the oldest writers to be used externally to the swellings,
rigid limbs, and ulcers of scorbutic patients. A surgeon in lord
Rodney's fleet last war, we are informed by Dr. Blaue, found
much benefit from it, applied to sores in the form of a poultice*

Lemon juice also counteracts the powers of opium.

Letter from General Sir George Br at ktv ait e Bough ton, Bcart^
to Dr. Beddoes*.

Poston Hall, July 24, 1705.
Sir, Having for a considerable time been troubled with rheu-
matic pains, it was recommended to me to take a mild opiate
every night on going to bed, and in the event of that dose not
proving sufficiently soporific, I was to add to it a few drops of
laudanum, for which purpose I had procured a three-ounce
phial of laudanum. Nevertheless, being unwilling to accustom
myself to the use of opium, I generally postponed taking the
opiate till extreme pain and want of sleep rendered it absolutely
necessary. In one of these moments, about four o'clock in the
morning, I reached out my hand to the table, on which, by mis-
take, my servant had placed the phial containing the laudanum;
and believing this to be my usual night draught, I poured out
the contents into a tumbler glass, and drank it off. 1 soon per-
ceived my mistake by the taste of the laudanum ; but from my
immediate relief from pain, accompanied by a certain pleasing
languor, it was some time before I could rouse myself so as to
call assistance. Being, however, perfectly convinced that I must
soon beat a quick march to the other world, unless my stomach
was eased of the poison it contained, I rang the bell, and or.
dered some warm water* It was some time before this could be
got ready. As soon as it was brought, 1 drank large quantities,
but without any effect. The apothecary was then sent for, who
gave me three several doses of vitriolated zinc +, when at last
they succeeded so well, that I brought up a considerable quan-

• This is published In M Obsertations on the Medicinal Use of Factitious
Airs, and their Production |" by Dr. Beddoes.

+ This metal, like the rest, has no power nntfl it be combined with ox*
ygen.

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668 LEMON.

Uty of the laodtnam. In the morning early I sent for Dr.
Thornton, who administered the rital air *, and ordered me le-
monade t, which, from the weak state of my stomach, was al-
most as speedUy returned, but perfectly sweet to the taste, and
to deprived of all acidity J, as to be like sugar and water, and
did not effervesce with alkali. This was frequently repeated;
when in the evening I ate my dinner, without any sensible dif-
ference, and felt the next day much as usual. This is the simple
fact, to the best of my remembrance ; if it can be of any use in
a science which has for its object the ease and happiness of man-
kind, I shall always look back with pleasure to an accident
which has afforded me an opportunity of giving you this detail.
—I have the honour to be, Sir,

Your most obedient servant,

G. C. Brathwaite Boughtoh.

P. S. Among the Indians, who take great quantities of solid
opium, when they wish to remove the effects of stupefaction
they drink plenty of lime juice, which they know, from expc
rience, produces that effect*

Lemonade Has been known to cure also putrid fever, and k
always a refreshing drink in that disorder.

OFFICINAL PREPARATION.
Syrup op Lemon Juice. (Syrupus e Succo Limonis.)

Take of lemon juice, strained, after the dregs have subside^
two pints ;

1 of double refined sugar, fifty ounces :

Dissolve the sugar, to make a syrup.

In the same manner are made the syrups of mulberries, of
raspberries, and of black currants.

CULINARY PREPARATIONS.
Candied Lemon Peel
Is made by boiling lemon peel with sugar.

* Dr. Thornton, in bis observations on this case, remarks that the vital
air was very rapidly consumed ; which must recall to the reader's mind tfce
celebrated experiment of 8palding , recorded in Phil, of Med. vol. i. p. ».

+ A mix tare of lemon, sugar, and water.

} The arid principle has been before proved to be derived frtmtk
oxygen or vital air.

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uwoir. 609

Lemon Pudding.

Cat off the rind of three lemons, and boil them tender. Pound
them in a mortar, and hare ready a quarter of a pound of Naples
biscuits boiled up in a quart of milk or cream. Mix them and
the lemon rind with it, and beat up twelve yolks and six whites
of eggs. Melt a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, and put in
half a pound of sugar, and a little orange-flower water. Mix
all well together, put it over the fire, stir till thick, and then
squeeze in the juice of half a lemon. Put puff paste round your
dish, then pour in your pudding, cut candied sweetmeats and
strew over, and bake it three quarters of an hour.

Or make it thus : — Blanch and beat eight ounces of Jordan al-
monds with orange-flower water ; add to them half a pound of
cold butter, the yolks of eight or ten eggs, the juice of a large
lemon, and half the rind grated. Work them in a marble mortar
till they look white, then pnt puff paste on your dish, pour in.
your pudding, and bake half an hour.

How to keep Lemons.
Take fruit that are quite sound and good, and run a fine pack*
thread, about a quarter of a yard long, through the hard nib at
the end of the lemon ; then tie the string together, and hang it
on a hook in an airy dry place : be sure they do not touch one
another, nor any thing else, but hang them as high as you can.

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PERFORATED ST. JOHN'S WORT.

HYPERICUM PERFORATUM.

Out XVIII. PeJyadelphia. Order IV. Polyandria.
Etssirr. Gkh. Chajl. Cafyx five-parted, inferior : Petals Ave: Filamadsm-

meroos, in three or fife parcels, united at the base : CmpwU manj-

seeded.
Spec. Char. Styles three: Slem two-edged: Leave* obtuse, with peUacai

dots ; divisions of the Calyx linear-lanceolate, acute.

DESCRIPTION.

Rises to a foot and half in height. Branches opposite, flower-
bearing. Leaves sessile, in pairs, entire, beset with a great
number of minute transparent vesicles, which hare the appear,
ance of perforations. Flowers numerous, elegant, fi ve-petalied,
of a beautiful yellow. Stamina in three parcels. Anthers yellow,
with a small black gland to each.

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PERFORATED ST. JOHN** WORT. 671

HISTORY.
Native of Britain ; common in wooda and uncultivated grounds,
and flowers in July.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
Formerly it was supposed, and not without reason, that
madmen were possessed of the devil, and this plant was found
so successful in that disorder, that it had the title of Fuga Ae-
9umum> as cnring daemoniacs. Matthiolus writes, u Scripsere
qnidem Hypericum adeo odisse demones, ut ejus suffitu statim
avolent" It has not been tried in modern practice, except in
hysteria and suppressed menses in a decoction. The colouring
matter gives a good dye to wool. And oil reddened with this
plant is kept in some shops against burns.

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CAJEPUT TREE,

AROMATIC MELALEUCA.

MELALEUCA LEUCADENDRON.

CUui XVIII. Polyadelphia. Order IV. Polyandria.

Essnrr. Gen. Char. Calyx five-parted, half superior: PettU five:
Filaments numerous, united into five bodies : Style one : Capsule half in-
verted by the calyx, thee-celled.

Spfc. Char. Leaves alternate, pointed, oblique in a falcate manner,
five-nerved : BranckleU and Petioles glabrous.

DESCRIPTION.
A moderate-sized tree. Leaves linear-lanceolate, ash-coloured,
odorous, oo short footstalks. Flowers white, sessile, od long
terminal spikes. Capsule rouad.

HISTORY.
The tree which furnishes the cajeput'oil is frequent on fa
mountains of Amboyna, and the other Molucca islands. It 4

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CA JEPUT TREE. 873

obtained by distillation from the dried leaves of the smaller of
two varieties, and is prepared in great quantities, especially in
the island of Banda, and sent to Holland in copper flasks* As
it comes to us it is of a gre&i colour, very limpid, lighter than
water, of a strong smell, resembling camphor, and a strong,
pungent taste, like that of cardamoms. It burns entirely away,
without leaving any residuum. It is often adulterated with other
essential oils, coloured with the resin of milfoil. In the genuine
oil, the green colour depends on the presence of copper ; for
when rectified it is colourless.

MEDICAL USE.

like other aromatic oils it is highly Stimulating, and is prin-
cipally recommended in hysteria, epilepsy, flatulent colic, and
paralysis of the tongue* The dose is from one to four drops oU
a lump of sugar*

It is applied externally where a warm and peculiar stimulus is
requisite ; and is employed for restoring vigour after luxations
and sprains; and for easing violent pain in gouty and rheumatk
cases, in toothach, and similar affections*

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ARTICHOKE.

CYNARA SCOLYMUS.

Clan XIX. Syngeneiia. Ordtr I. Polygamia ssqaalis.
Enekt. Geh. Char. Rtceptmck bristly: Caly* dilated, imbricate, tie

scales fleshy at the base, etnarginate with a small point : Down senile,

feathery.
Spec. Chasu Leaves prickly or vaarmed, pinnate and undivided: Sash

of the calyx ovate.

DESCRIPTION.

This plant rises three or four feet Leaves Urge, on the upper
part smooth, beneath reticulate, hoary, and downy. Flowers
terminal. Calyx common, globular, composed of numerous scales,
at the base thick and fleshy, the part we eat, and above mem-
branous, notched, with a spinous point in the centre. Florets
of the corolla blue, each cut in five thin segments, tubular at
bottom. Seeds oblong, furnished with a feathery pappus, on t
fleshy receptacle, a part we eat, called the bottom ; the yosof
flower we call the choke. ~

HISTORY.
Native of the south of Europe, flowering in August

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ARTICHOKE. 675

MEDICAL USB.

The leaves and stalks of the artichoke contain a bitter juice,
which is very diuretic, and has long been esteemed a good re.
inedy for evacuating the water of dropsies by urine. This juice
is got by mashing the leaves and stalks, and then squeezing them
in a press ; and afterwards by straining it through a cloth : it if
commonly ordered to be mixed with white wine, and is given
from half an ounce to an ounce for a dose ; which is repeated
twice or thrice in the day, as the stomach will bear it.

The leaves and stalks enter as an ingredient into many of the
diuretic decoctions, which are prepared by the country people
in many of the counties. The following decoction, the prepanu
tion of which was long kept as a secret by a person at Ando*
▼er, is laid to have carried off the water from several people
labouring under the dropsy :— Take of artichoke leaves and
stalks, three handfuls; of bruised juniper berries, one quart;
of scraped horse-radish, one handful ; of green fir tops, two
handfuls ; of bruised white mustard seed, two table spoonfuls :
mix the whole, and boil them in two gallons of water to one,
and strain the liquor through a cloth. A grown person is to take
half a pint morning and evening, adding a little syrup or sugar
if agreeable.

Geoffroy, in his Materia Medica, mentions the root of the
artichoke as a powerful diuretic ; and recommends decoctions
or broths made with it as good for promoting a discbarge by
arias. .

ftx*

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DANDELION.

LEONTODON TARAXACUM.

Clou XIX. Syngenesia. Order I. Polygamia equate.
Essent. Gew. Char. Receptacle naked: Calyx doable: Xtaen simple, pe*

dicelled.
Sfec. Char. Outer Calyx renexed : Scape one-flowered : Leaves raociotlrt

smooth, with lanceolate toothed lobes.

DESCRIPTION.
1 his is a small plant, and common in erery field ; the flowers
stand upon a scape, and are all ligulate, that is strap-shape^
and hare five stamina with united anthers, round a pistillss,
possessing a bifid stigma. The seed, when mature, has s ft*
circular feathery crown, by which it flies to distant parts.

HISTORY.
Natire of England, and ejery where to be found, fioveriof
during April, June, and July*

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DANDELION. 677

MEDICAL USE.

The young leares of this plant in a blanched state hare the taste
of endive, and make an excellent addition to those plants eaten
early in the spring as sallads+» At Gottingen the roots are
roasted, and substituted for coffee, by the poorer inhabitants ;
who find that an infusion prepared in this way can hardly be
distinguished from that of the coffee berry *. The origin of its
name is curious. Leontodon, Greek, Lion's Tooth, from the
toothed-like appearance of the leaf; Leonis Dens, Latin, from '
the Greek ; Dent de Lidn, French, from the Latin ; and hence our
word from the French, Dan-de-lion; also called Piss~a*bed,
from its diuretic quality, which children experience who eat the
young plant J.

The leaves and roots of this plant are bitter, an<J contain a bitter
milky juice. They have been esteemed to be diuretic, sapona-
ceous, and resolvent, and to be powerful remedies for removing
obstructions of the liver, and of the other viscera. Their pu-
rified expressed juice has been given from two to six ounces,
twice, thrice, or oftener in the day ; and infusions and decoc-
tions of the herb and root have been used for the same purposes.
Boerhaave had such a great opinion of the continued use of the
juice, or of the infusions of this plant, that he believed they
were capable of removing most obstructions of the viscera that
were to be relieved by medicine. Bergias likewise speaks much
in the praise of this simple; and says* " That.he has often seen
it prove of service after other remedies had failed ; and that he
has seen hardnesses of the liver removed, by patients catiog daily,
for some months, of a broth made with dandelion root, the leaves
of sorrel, and the yolk of an egg with water; while they took,
at the same time, cream of tartar, to keep their bodies open ;"
and he adds, " that he has seen a similar course of service, in
the ascites, and in cases of gall stones."

» Withering'! Bot, Arrang. p. 899.
+ Murray's Apparat p. 107.

t Wheoaiwan* of locatfs had destroyed the harvest in the Irian* o.
Minorca, maay of the inhabitants sabsisted apon this plant.— Withering.

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BURDOCK.

ARCTIUM LAPPA.

CUui XTX. Syngenesis. Order I. Polygamia seqnalis.
EtsEifT. Gnr. Cbar. Receptacle chaffy : Calyx globular, the scales enfisf

in an incurved hook : Seed crowned with chaffy bristles.
Spjsc. Csua. Stemr-hm** heart-shaped, pedaled, deaticalate : Cafat

. smooth.

DESCRIPTION.
This plant rises three feet Stem purplish: brandies alter,
nate. Leaves also alternate, heart-shaped, veiny ; above of *
dark green, beneath whitish. Lower leaves very large, stand-
ing upon long footstalks, grooved like the stem. Flowers Di-
merous, generally ending in pairs.

HISTORY.
This plant is common in waste grounds and road sides; it
flowers in July and August, and is well known by the burs, or

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BURDOCK. 679

scaly heads, which stick to the clothes, a circumstance from
*which the word Lappa is supposed to be derived*.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
The pharmacopoeias direct the root for medical use : it has no
smell, but tastes sweetish, and mixed as it were with a slight
bitterishness and roughness. Its virtue, according to Bergius,
is mundificans, diuretica, diaphoretica + ; and many instances are
upon record in which it has been successfully employed in a
great variety of chronic diseases, as scurry, rheumatism, gout,
lues venerea £, and pulmonic complaints. We have ne?er had an
opportunity of observing the effects of this root, except as a
diuretic, and in this way we have known it succeed in two drop,
steal cases, where other powerful medicines had been ineffectu*
ally used : and as it neither excites nausea nor increases irrita-
tion, it may occasionally deserte a trial where more active re*
medies are improper. The seeds also possess a diuretic quality,
and have been given with advantage in the dose of a drachm in
calculous and nephritic complaints, and in the form of emulsion
ss a pectoral. The root is generally used in decoction, which
may be made by boiling two ounces of the fresh root in three
pints of water to two, which, when intended as a diuretic,
ihould be taken in the course of two days, or if possible in
twenty-four hours.— AVoodville.

• Lappa dici potest vd «r* *» XaCuv prehendere, vel Xmwrt* lambere*
Ray, 1. c.

t Mat Med. «3.

% Henricos III. Galliamm Rex, a Petco Penft decocto radicmn Lapp*
ab bac loe sanatns fait. Vide Reverias, Obi. 41.

The yoaog stent of this plant, stripped of their rind, are boiled and eaten
like asparagus. When raw, they are good with oil and vinegar.— Wither*
lag, 864. L c.

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WILD SUCCORY,

CJCHORIUM INTYBU8-

CUu XIX. Syngeneiia. Order I. Polygamia equalfo.
KMBNT.Geff. CBAt. ReceptacU somewhat chaffy: ftfc* infested wUh

Kales : Stedi crowned with numerou short teeth.
8pkc. Char. FUmen in pain, axUlary, nearly seuPe : Leave* menu*.

DESCRIPTION.

This beautiful plant rises three or four feet high. Learei Di-
merous, pinnatifid, cut into irregular teeth like the dandelion,
alternate, somewhat hairy, sessile. Flowers compound, luge,
blue. Corolla ligitlate, cut into fire teeth at the extremities.

HISTORY.

Nati?e of Britain ; common about the borders of corn-fieUf ;

find flowers in July and August The ieares, when blanched,

are eaten early in the spring in sallads. They lose their Utter.

nesi by cultmtion, The roots, gathered before the stem shoo*

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WILD SUCCORY. 681

op, are eatable, and when dried will make bread. Thus the
Roman poet:

Me patcunt oliya*
Me cfctortfo, levcsque malvee. Hoiu Lib. I. Od. 31*

MEDICAL VIRtUE.
The Tirtucs of the succory, like those of the dandelion, reside
in its milky juice ; and in many of the plants of this natural
tribe a juice of a similar nature is to be found ; therefore what
is observed of the effects of the taraxacum applies also* to the
cichorium : " and we are warranted in asserting," says Or. Wood,
▼ille, " that the expressed juice of both these plants, taken in
large doses, frequently repeated, has been found an efficacious
remedy in consumption, as well as jaundice, and other ffeceral
obstructions."

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WILD LETTUCE.

LACTUCA VIROSA.

Clots XIX. Syngeneda. Ordtr I. Polygamia s»qmalii.

Estcrr. Gem. C*ar. Receptacle naked ; Gifyjr imbricated, cylindrical,
with a inembranoas margin : Down limple, pedicelled: Seed* naarned.

Spbc. Char. Imwi horizontal, prickly on the keel, obtate at top, arrow-
shaped at the base, oblong-lanceolate ; the lower ones sinuate and dca-
ticnlate.

DESCRIPTION.
This plant rises four feet. It has three different kinds of
, leaves. Those proceeding from the root are slightly toothed;
those from the stem are cut into pinnated lobes ; and those at-
tached to the flower-stalks are arrow-shaped, pointed, entire,
and minute. The florets are yellow, and small.

HISTORY.

This plant flowers in August and September, is biennial, and
grows wild on rubbish and rough banks, in many places in tab
country.

It smells strongly of opium, and resembles it in some of Ht

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WILD LETTI/CB. 683

elects ; and Its narcotic power, like that of the poppy, resides
in a milky juice.

The garden lettuce, when in flower, js alio Tery bitter, and
abounds with a milky juice, in its taste and smell remarkably
like opiam, for which, when dried, it has been proposed and
used with success as a substitute by Dr. Coxe of Philadelphia*
Before it begins to shoot it has none of that bitterness, and con*
tains no milky juice, and probably has not those soporific ef-
fects which are commonly ascribed to the use of lettuce.

MEDICAL USE.

An extract prepared from the expressed juice of the leares of
the plant, gathered when in flower, is recommended in small
doses in dropsy* Two grains must be begun with four times
a day, and gradually increased, till twp scruples or more are
giTen daily. In dropsies of long standing, proceeding from ris.
ceral obstructions, it has been giren to the extent of half an
ounce a day. It is said to agree with the stomach, to quench
thirst, to be gently laxatire, powerfully diuretic, and somewhat
diaphoretic. Plentiful dilution is allowed during its operation.
Dr. Collin, of Vienna, asserts, that out of twenty-four dropsical
patients, all but one were cured by this medicine.

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COMMON TANSY.

TANACETUM VULGARE.

' Clast XIX. Syngenesia. Order II. Polygamia luperftoa.

Eunrr. Gen. Char. Receptacle naked : Seeds crowned with a slight Baf-
fin : Calyx imbricated, hemispherical : Floret* of the ray obsolete, «
three-cleft, sometimes wanting.

Spec. Cbaa. Leaves doubly pinnatifid, deeply serrate.

DESCRIPTION.
X his plant rises three feet The flowers are yellow, and small,
resembling a flat hemisphere: florets of the disk bisexual, of the
ray female.

HISTORY.
Natire of Britain, growing in moist pastures, borders of corn-
fields, and flowering in July and August

- MEDICAL USE.
Tansy is an aromatic strong bitter, that has been long esteemed
as an anthelmintic, and has been principally used for that pur-
pose ; it was likewise esteemed a good anti-hysteric remedy, tnd
useful for remoring uterine obstructions, and recommended is
Culpepper's London Dispensatory, in the year 1659, in goaty
cases. In the year 1771, the late Dr. Darid Clarke, of Edis-

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COMMON TAN8T. 685

burgh, published, in the third volume of the Edinburgh Essays
Physical and Literary, a paper on the gout, in which he recom-
mends (he use of an infusion of tansy in that disorder; and he
mentions two cases in which it was of use :—

1. A gentleman, under fifty years of age, who had been sub-
ject to the gout for about fifteen years, on finding his disorder
increase, he about seven years ago had recourse to an infusion,
of tansy to remove it ; he filled every morning a tea-pot, capable
of holding an English pint of liquor, with the dried flowers,
leaves, and stalks of tansy, and then poured as much boiling water
over them as the pot would hold, and let it stand till night,
when he drank, at going to bed, the whole of the cold infusion :
by following constantly this method he has remained free of the
gout for seven years, excepting a slight fit which he had after
spraining his ancle. He was not sensible of its operating by stool,
by perspiration, or by nrine ; though Dr. Clarke thought that
it acted on his bowels, as he had regularly two stools in the day.

% Another person, fifty-two years of age, had remained free
from the gout for three years, by drinking near a pint of the
infusion of tansy daily, and by eating some of the fresh tansy in
the morning, while it was in season : before using this remedy
he had regularly a fit of the gout, which confined bim from one
to four months in the winter*

The young tops of tansy in decoction have proved an admira-
ble vermifuge, as also the seeds.

CULINARY PREPARATION.

Tansy Podding.

Blanch and pound a quarter of a pound of Jordan almonds ;
put them into a stewpan, add a gill of the syrup of roses, the.
crumb of a French roll, some grated nutmeg, half a glass of
brandy, two table spoonfuls of tansy juice, three ounces of
fresh butter, and some slices of citron. Pour over it a pint and
a half of boiling cream or milk, sweeten, and when cold mix it;
add the juice of a lemon, and eight eggs beaten. It may be
either boiled or baked.

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SOUTHERNWOOD.

ARTEMISIA ABROTANUM.

CUm XIX. Syngenesia. Order II. Potygamia Mperflaa.
Essewt. Gen. Char. RtceptacU subvUlons, or naked : Peppm aaaex
Calyx imbricated, with roundish scales, conniving : No ray to the Corf*.
Spec. Cbae. /Vatic** : Leaves very branchy.

DESCRIPTION.
Tiiis plant rises three feet. Branches yertical. Leares name-
rout, irregularly bipinnate. Pinnae long, linear, narrow, en-
tire. Flowers ?ery minute, of a greenish yellow, in close ter*
sninal spikes, intermixed with leares.

HI8TORY.

This is a perennial shrub, which grows readily in our gardtoi,
though a nati?e of the south of Europe.
Southernwood has a strong smell, which to most people is not

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southernwood. 687

disagreeable; it has a pungent, bitter, and somewhat nauseous
taste. These qualities are very completely extracted by alcohol,
and the tioctore is of a beautiful green colour. They are lea
perfectly extracted by watery liquors, the infusion being of a
light brown colour.

MEDICAL USB.
Southernwood, as well as some other species of the same genus,
has been recommended as, an anthelmintic ; and it has also been
sometimes used as stimulant, detergent, and sudorific. Exter-
nally it has been employed in discutient and antiseptic fomenta-
tions ; and under the form of lotion and ointment, for cutaneous
eruptions, and for preventing the hair from falling oft But it
Is at present very rarely used in any way.

OFFICINAL PREPARATION.
Decoctiom for Fomentations. (Decoctum pro Fomento. L.)

Take of the leaves of southernwood, dried,

" the tops of sea wormwood, dried,

— — camomile towers, dried, of each one ounce;

. bay leaves, dried, half an ounce ;

■ distilled water, six pints :
Boil them a little, and strain.

These decoctions are merely solutions of a bitter extractive,
combined with a little mucilage, and in the others with essential
oils. In making them the aromatic substances should not be
added until the decoction is nearly completed, for otherwise
their flavour would be entirely dissipated.

As fomentations, their virtues depend, in a great measure, on
the warm water, which relaxes as a bath ; and when the herbs
themselves are applied, they act only as retaining heat and mois-
ture for a longer time, and operate on the mind of the patient ;
bat are a less convenient, and hardly more useful fomentation*
than cloths wrung out of hot water.

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WORMWOOD.

ARTEMISIA ABSINTHIUM,

CUusXiX. Byngenesia. Order IL Polygamiasuperflua.
EsfcEWT. Get*. Char. Bame arthe first.

Srac. Char. Leav$$ compound, rfnltifid; Floaters sab-globular, peodrfif ?
Rectftmck ftttous.

DESCRIPTION.
This plant rises three feet, and sends off sereral branches. Hie
leares are difided into many bluntish segments in a pinnated
order, under side downy, of a pale green, and silky softness.
Flowers of a brownish yellow, placed in numerous spikes, from
the alas of the leares, placed alternate.

HISTORY.

This perennial herb grows by the road sides, and on rubbish,

in many parts of Britain ; and about London it b cultWated for

medical use.

MEDICAL USE.

Its smell is strong and disagreeable ; its taste intensely bitter,

so as to become a prorerb. Its actire constituents are a bitter

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WOEMWOOD. 689

extractive and essential oil. It is used in stomach complaints,
and is of great service to persons labouring under hypochondria*
It is also employed in intermittent fevers, in cachectic and hy-
dropic affections, in jaundice^ and against worms. The extract
is a pure and simple bitter. The essential oil is of a dark green
colour, and contains the whole fiaywr of the plant. It is sti-
mulating, and is supposed to bq a powerful antispasmodic and
anthelmintic. Wormwood was formerly much used for the pre-
paration of medicated wine and ales, and forms purl when in-,
fused with the last, which hard drinkers are in the habit of taking
in the morning to go through tbtfr hard day's labours.

Withering says, the leaves and flowers are very bitter; the
roots are warm and aromatic. A considerable quantity of essen-
tial oil rises from it in distillation. This oil is used both exter-
nally and internally to destroy worms; The leaves, put into sour
beer, soon destroy the acescency. They resist putrefaction,
and are therefore a principal ingredient in antiseptic fomenta-
tions. An infusion of them is a good stomachie^-and, with the
addition of fixed alkaline salt, a powerful diuretic in some drop*
sical cases. The ashes afford a moro pure alkaline salt than most
other vegetables, excepting bean-stalks, broom, and the larger
trees. In the A mam. Acad. vol. ii. p. 160, Linnaeus mentions
two cases, wherein an essence prepared from this plant, and
t^ken for a considerable time, prevented the formation of
stones in the kidneys or bladder ; the patients forbearing, ttye
use of wine and acids. It might be suspected that, like other
bitters, its long continued use must weaken the action of the
nervous system, but in these instances no such effect took place.
An infusion of it given to a woman that suckles, makes her milk*
better. It gives a bitterness to the flesh of sheep that eat it-
Horses and goats are not fond of it ; cows and swine refuse it*
Linn. Turkeys are fond of it. — Mr. liollefear. A horse ate it.
The plant steeped in boiling water, and repeatedly applied to a
bruise, will remove the pain in a short time, and prevent the
swelling and discoloration of the part.^-St.

The great Haller says, that Charles V. used this plant for the
gout; and for the same purpose I have employed a decoction of
wormwood, and finally by a long use conquered this disease in
myself, so that I have had no return. This testimony merits
the attention of English physicians.

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?G3 *, .-

. i . . i i j.

t,>.» :;

/; "V'"MU G W O RT.

ARTEMISIA VULGARIS.

, Clm XI^. Syriaenesia. Ordar II. Polygamia superflua.
EtsEW^Gw*. Char. Same as the last.

Spec.' Char. Leaves pinnatifid, flat, incised, beneath tomenfose: JMn**
"triinpfe, recurred4: TWe Fforek In the ray.

,v ;. DESCRIPTION.

TWirtalk rises three feet The teases ace deeply dttdeu into
tuvdr'al segments, which are pointed) on the upper side of *<k*»
^grefny *and on the under downy, or entered with a cotton-to
sdbfttarftev Flowers small, purplish, in spikes, alternate, ifltf
the afce of the lea?es, which here appear hnlbertehnped*

HISTORY.
jNeJto of Britain, flowers from August to September*

Vji. .*\* , MEDICAL VIRTUE.

f la son^ countries it is used as a culinary aromatic. A decoc-
^on o/^^;^kea by. the common people to cure the ague. The
Chinese malrtf use of it in healing wounds, applying the fresk
plant bruised.— Osbeck, i. 394. A drachm of the leares, pow-

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Mtrowomv <J9fc

dered, was giten four tines' a day, by Dr# Homty tda woman
who had been affected with hysteric fits for many years. The
fits ceased in a lew days. In this patient assafetida and ather*
had been given to no purpose.

Mdxa l is a substance prepared in Japan from the dried tops
and leares of mug wort*, by beating and rubbing them betwixt
the hands till only the fine internal lanugiaous fibres remain,
which are then combed and formed into little cones. These,
used as cauteries, are greatly celebrated ki eastern countries fop
preventing and curing many disorders t ; but chronic rheuma*
tisms, gouty, and some other painful affections of, the joints*
seem to, be, the chief complaints for which they can be rationally
employed. The manner of applying the moxa k very simple*
^he part affected being previously moistened, a cone of the moxa
b laid, which being, set on fire at the apex, gradually burns down
to the skin, where it produces a dark-coloured spot: by repeat*
teg the process several times, an eschar is formed of any desired
extent, ghd this on separation leaves an ulcer, which is kept
open or healed up as. circumstances may require. i

*. It is said that the use of the moxa was originally introduce^
by the Jesuits J * but it is probably of still greater antiquity*
Prom remote times.it has been the practice, to cauterize the aiV
fected parts by various means. Hippocrates for this purpose
pot only used iron but flax, -also a species of fungus |; and (the
Laplanders still prefer the agaric (Boletus igoiarius), which they
prepare and use in a similar way as 4be Japanese do their moxa |^>
(The ^Egyptians produced the same effects by means of cottea
or linen cloth f ; and in Spain a moxa is prepared, from a s§e»
jcies of the echinops.

i*' ■ t ■ ." ' ' ' ■ ; "■■ ■" ' i » '■ ■ 1-im i. ■ i i i i ■

** * This* however, is not the speck* of ailemitia from which the easteni
spoxa U nude % bat that prepared from thk plant in Germany was* found to
.answer very well. See Epb. Nat. Cur. Dec. 3. A. 7* 8. App. 141.

It has also been made from the down of vcrbaseum.
J t For a full account of these see Kfim^fer, Aaron. Exof; ji. 508, &cV
*Abo abbe Grosier (Hist. ofCWna), from1 whom it appears, that mirrors kf
'Ice or metal were used for the purpose of igniting the moxa; and thai the
aarieat Chinese made, paper, and a kind of cloth, of the down of artemisla.
9 t See Becueil d'Observations £urieuscs, ' torn, ii. p. 114.

$ Lib. dc Affect. S 30.

|| Harmcns and Fiellstrom Diss. Med. Lapp, in HaB, Collect. IDs*. Pract-
*tota. rl. p. 728.

- f Pr«per.\lp4oai, llh. Ui. c U.p^09.- .

* Y 2

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699" MtHJWORT.

Extract from Sir JFilHam Temple, on Moxa.

Ninegaen, June 18, 16T7.

I never thonght it would hare befallen me to be the first that
should try a new experiment, any more than to be author of any
Hew invention ; being little inclined to practise upon others, and
as little that others should practise upon me. The same warmth
of bead disposes men to both, though one be commonly esteemed
an honour, and the other a reproach. I am sorry the first, and
the worse of the two, is fallenoo my share, by which all a man
can hope is to avoid censure, and that is much harder than to
gain applause ; for this may be done by one great or wise action
in an age, but to avoid censure a man must pass his life with*
out saying or doing one ill or foolish thing.

This might serve' the turn, if all men were just ; but as they
are, I doubt nothing will, and that it is the idlest pretension in
the world to live without it ; the meanest subjects censuring the
actions of the greatest prince ; the silliest servants, of the wisest
master ; and young children, of the oldest parents. Therefore
I have not troubled myself to give any account of an experiment
I made by your perswasion, to satisfy those who imputed it to
folly, rashness, or impatience ; but to satisfy you who proposed
the thing in kindness to me, and desired the relation of it in
kindness to other men.

I confess your engaging me first in this adventure of the man,
and desiring the story of it from me, is like giving one the tor*
ture, and then asking his confession ; which is hard usage to an
innocent man, and a friend. Besides, having suffered the first, I
believe myself to hare a right of refusing the other. But I find
your authority with me is too great to be disputed in either;
and the pretence of public good is a cheat that will ever pass in
the world, though so often abused by ill men, that I wonder the
good do not grow ashamed to use it any longer. Let it be as it
will, you have what you asked, and cannot but say that I have
done, as well as suffered, what you had a mind to engage me in.
I have told you the story with the more circumstance, became
many questioned the disease, that they might not allow of the
cure ; though the certainty of one, and force of the other, hat
been enough evidenced by two returns since I left you at the
Hague, which past with the same success. The reasonings upon
this method, which seem to confirm the experiment, and other
remedies for the gout here reflected on, are aimed at thesis*

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MUGWORT. 693

end for which you seemed so roach to desire this relation. The
digressions I cannot excuse otherwise than by the confidence
that no man will read them who has not at least as much leisure
as I had when I writ them ; and whosoever dislikes, or grows
weary of them, may throw them away. For those about tem-
perance, age, or their effects and periods in reference to public
business, they could bo better add rest to none than to you, who
have past the longest life with the most temperance, and the best
health and humour of any man I know ; and having run through
so much great and public business, have found out the secret so
little known, that there is a time to give it over.

Among all the diseases to which the intemperance of this age
disposes it (at least in these northern climates), I have observed
none to increase so much within the compass of my memory and
conversation as the gout, nor any, I think, of worse consequence
to mankind ; because it falls generally upon persons engaged in
public affairs and great employments, upon whose thoughts and
cares (if not their motions and their pains) the common good
and service of their country so much depends ; the general of-
ficers of armies, the governors of provinces, the public ministers
in counsels at home, and embassies abroad (that have fallen in
my way), being generally subject to it in one degree or other.
I suppose the reason of this may be, that men seldom come into
those posts till after forty years old, a?/Out which time the na.
tural heat beginning to decay, makes way for those distempers
they are most inclined to by their native constitutions, or by
their customs and habits of life. Besides, persons in those posts
are usually born of families noble and rich, and so derive a weak-
ness of constitution from the ease and luxury of their ancestors,
and the delicacy of their own education ; or if not, yet the pletf
of their fortunes from those very employments, and the general
custom of living in them at much expense, engages men in the
constant use of great tables, and in frequent excesses of several
kinds, which must end in diseases when the vigour of youth is
past, and the force of exercise (that served before to spend the
humour) is given over for a sedentary and unactive life.

These I take to be the reasons of such persons being so gene*
rally subject to such accidents more than other men ; and they
are so plain, that they must needs occur to any one that thinks.
But the ill consequence of it is not so obvious, though perhaps

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titt MTOW0ET4

MA Evident to, mfctt that observe j and ma y be ejuatty eoairfcsi
by reasons and examples. It ts that the vigour of the miadfe-
cays with thai of the body, aod not only humour and invention^
but even judgment and resolution, change and languish wim ifl
constitution of body and of health ; and by this meant aabKc
business comes to suffer by private infirmities, and kingdoms «r
states fall into weaknesses and distempers by the diseases or d*
fays of those persons that manage them. ' * *

Within these fifteen years past, I have known a great fleet
disabled for two months, and thereby lose great •ccasioas, ty
an indisposition of the admiral, while he was neither weHeooa^
to exercise, nor ill enough to leave the command. 1 have kaowt
two towns of the greatest consequence lost contrary to aUfonS)
fry the governor's falling ill in the time of the sieges. Aadl
remember one great minister that confessed to me, when he fell
into one of his usual fits of the gout, he was not longer ablets
bend his mind or thoughts to any public business, uorgiveaa*
riiences beyond two or three Of his own domestics, though it
.were to save a* kingdom- 5 and that this proceeded, not from say
.violence of pain, but from a general languishing and feiotaetf
fif spirits, which made him in those fits' think nothing warm tst
trouble of one careful or solicitous thought. And if ietemss*
ranee be allowed to be the common mother of gout, ordromvi
and of scurvy, and most other lingering diseases, which aaelhsst
that infest the state, I. think temperance deserves the fat leak
among public virtues, as- well as those of1 private men ; aaddeslt
whether any can pretend to the constant steady exercise of pri*
dance, justice, or fortitude, without it*

ypoft these grounds whoever can propoae a way of curing or
preventing the gout (which entered chiefly into those exntapbi
jl have mentioned of public* afiairs sugaring by private mdfseo*
tions) would perhaps doa service to prusees and states, as vsM
jas to particular men; yvhicb makes mo the more willing 4»*1
jmy storyv and talkoub -of my trade, being steonglypossssftl
with a belief that wfeat I have* tried, > or thought; of toasd pass
this subject, may go. a great way in preventing the growth *f
at|iis disease wiiese it is but newr > though ^Htthaps longer methods

^sra.rtecessary to deal witifc it w^en it is old.f . * '•

•Fro at my. grand fatherte death I had reason -ta -apprehend tss
i tone, aadfeon^ my. father's litis thetgftut, w hq has bean f* t*

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***/, yeasty Mi atiH coitfinue* mnch affiled wttJrit** The
•&Mt apprehension has been, I confess , with^, me, ewr tf*
etroag est, and the other hardly ia my though, faring never

deserved it, by. the usual, forms ; nor had I ever, I thanfc, Gq4»
■the leatt threat from either of them, till the las t, year at the
Hague, being then in the seven-and-fortieth of my age, whe%
about the .end of February, one night at supper, I felt a
audden pain in my right foot, which from the first moment it
"began* increased sensibly, and in an hour's tiopet<to,fthat degree^
that, though I said nothing, yet others took optica of it in jay
/ace, and said they were sure I was not well, antf ;<would have
•bad me go to bed. I confessed I was in pain, and , thought it
vra* with some aprain at tennis : I pulled off my shoe, and with
«ome ease that this gave me, stirred not till thecojnpanybroa;e up^
.which was about tbrqe hours after my pain began. , 1 wen t away
4obed, but it raged so much all night, that I could not sleep a
wink. I endured it till about eight next roorpiog, in hopes sti}l
#€ stealing some rest; but then making my 'complaints, .and
allowing my foot, they found it yery red and .angry; and to
relieve my extremity of pain, began to apply cotmaon poultices
to it; and by the frequent change of them ( found some ea$o,
*nd epntinued this exercise all that day, and $ great part pf the
^foUowiog night, which I passed with very little rest; 'The mora-
JBg after my foot began, to swell, and the violence pf my pain tp
aasuage, though it left such a soreness that 1 could hardly suffer
the clothes of my bed, nor stir my foot but as it was lifted,

1 By this time my illness being inquired after about fhe tbwfl,
-was concluded to be the gout ; and being no longer feverish, or
la any extremity of pain, I was content to see company. Every
•body that^came to visit me, found something to say upon thje
occasion ; some made a jest of it, or a little reproach ; others
wsre serious in their mirth, and made me compliments as upon
« happy accident and sign of long life : in short, none of the
company was in Ml humour but I, who had rather by half have
had a fever, or a worse disease at that time, where the danger
jnight have been greater, but the trouble and the melancholy
would, I am sure, have been less.

Though I had never feared the gout, yet I had always scorned ,

• The late Dr. Darwin says that intemperance, ia eating or .drinking
brings op goat, and this passes from father to son, and can, spry ie crety
eated'out of the family hy temperance.

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696 -MtTGWomT.

It as an effect commonly of intemperance ; and hated k, as tktft
I thought it made men unfit for any thing after they were toce
deep engaged in it: besides, I was prest in my journey at tart
time to Nimeguen by his majesty's commands, tn assbt at the
treaty there. Most of the ambassadors from the several pafe
-Christendom were upon their way ; one of my colleagues was ak
ready upon the place, audi had promised immediately to foHofrj
'for by our commission we were to be two to act hi that medisfc
tion ; and to help at this pinch, I had always heard that a fittf
the gout used to have six weeks at the least for its ordinary pev
riod. With these comforts about me, and sullennnes enough to
use no remedy of a hundred that were told me, Dr. Zutidtea
came to see me (among the rest of my friends), who, I thkk,
never came into company without saying something that wti
new, and so he did upon this occasion* For talking of my iB.
ness, and approving of my obstinacy against all the comma
prescriptions, he asked me whether I had never heard the lodkn
way of curing the gout by moxa. I told him no, and asked bin
what it was* He said it was a certain kind of moss that gns*
in the East Indies ; that their way was, whenever any body fefl
into a fit of the gout, to take a small quantity of it, and form it
into a figure broad at bottom as a twopence, and pointed at top;
to set the bottom exactly upon the place where the violence df
the pain was fixed ; then with a small round perfumed maid
(made likewise in the Indies) to give fire to the top of the rao*>
which burning down by degrees, came at length to the skin, and
burnt till the moss was consumed to ashes; that many times the
first burning would remove the pain; if not, it was to bereoewefl
a second, third, and fourth time, till k went away, and till tte
person found he could set his foot boldly to the ground wd
"walk. ■

I desired him to tell me how he had come acquainted wiA
this new operation. He said by the relation of several who tai
seen and tried it in the Indies, but particularly by an rageaiotf
little book *, written of it by a Dutch minister at Batavia, wko
"being extremely tormented with a fit of the gout, an old Indian

* I suppose Busschof's Treatise of the Gout. This cure is also txt&&
of at large by Wilhelm. ten Rhynd, De Arthrit. p, 106, &c

See also Ephemerid. Germ. Decad. 1 ; an. 6,7; obs. £18 and 224;**
9, 10 j obs. l&S i and dec. 2, an. 1, obs. 6 and 27. Ettmoll. vol. U p. &•

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.MUG WORT. 6OT

woman coming to see him, undertook to cure him, and did it
immediately by this moxa ; and after many experiments of it
there, had written this treatise of it in Dutch for the use of his
"countrymen, and sent over a quantity of the moss and matches
to his son at Utrecht, to be sold, if any would be persuaded to
use them. That though he could not say whether experiment
liad been made of it here, yet the book was worth reading ; and
for his part he thought he should try it if ever he should fali
into that disease.

I desired the book, which he promised to send me the next
morning ; and this discourse of Dr. Zulichem busied my head all
sight. I hated the very name of the gout, and thought it a re-
proach : and for the good sign people called it, I could not find
that mended an ill thing ; nor could I like any sign of living long
in weakness or in pain. I deplored the loss of my legs, and
confinement to my chamber, at an age that left me little pleasure
but of walking and of air ; but the worst circumstance of all,
was the sentence passed upon it of being without enre.

I had past twenty years of my life, and several accidents of
-danger in my heahh, without any use of physicians ; and from
tome experiments of my own, as well as much reading and
thought upon that subject, had reasoned myself into an opinion,
that the use of them and their methods (unless in some sudden
and acute disease) was itself a very great venture; and that their
greatest practisers practised least upon themselves or their friends.

But for the common remedies of the gout, I found exceptions
to them all ; the time of purging was past with me, which other-
wise I shoukt certainly have tried upon the authority of the great
Hippocrates, who says it should be done upon the first motion
of the humour in the gout For poultices, I knew they allayed
pain ; but withal, that they drew down the humours, and suppled
the parts, thereby making the passages wider, and apter to re-
ceive them in greater quantity ; and I had often heard it con-
cluded, that the use of them ended in losing that of one's limbs,
by weakening the joint upon every fit. For plasters that had
aay effect, I thought it must be by dispersing or repelling the
humours, which could not be done without endangering per-
haps some other disease of the bowels, the stomach, or the head.
Rest, and warmth either of clothes or bathings, I doubted would
in a degree have the effects of poultices ; and sweating was proper
for prevention rather than remedy* So that all I could end in

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"696 jipoiroM*

with any satisfaction waft patience ; and though { easily nssoksi
<of it, yet it was hard to be found in the circumstances of wf
business as well as of 017 health.

All this made me ra? e upon Dr. Zulichem's new operatioe;
and for the way of curing by fire, I round twenty things to §m
roe an opinion of it. I remembered what I had read of las
Egyptian/ of old, who used it to most diseases; and what I
had often heard of that practice still continuing among tie
Moors of Afric; so that a sla?e is seldom taken (as both Spa-
niards and Portuguese affirm) who has not many scars of the
•hot iron upon bis body, which they use upon moat disteapen,
but especially those of the head, and consequently in .physic a
weir as in surgery. In the time of the Incaa' reign in Peru (waid
I take to have been .one of the greatest constitutions of absbtafe
monarchy that has been in the world) no composition was si
lowed by the laws to be used in poidt of medicine, but onir
.simples proper to each disease. Burning was much in use eitMr
by natural or artificial fires ; particularly for all illness of tenia,
and soreness or swelling, of the gums (which they weresnbject
to from their nearness to the sea),' they had an herb which newr
failed of curing it* and being laid to the gums, burnt away all
.the flesh that' was swelled or corrupted, and made way for new
'that came again as sound as that of a child. I remembered ts
-bare had myself in my youth, one cruel wound cured by wast-
ing medicament, after it was grown so putrefied as to bate (is
rt he surgeon's bunion) endangered the bone; and the Vioieot
swelling and bruise of another,- taken, away as4 sobn as I reteival
it, by scalding it with milk* I remembered the cure of cM»
Wanes, when I was a boy, (which may be called the rhiWits^
gout,) by burning at the fire, or else by scalding brine, that h$$,
I suppose, the same effect ,1 had heard of cuHri£ the stings #f
adders; and bites of mad dogs, by immediately burning the part
with a hot iron j and of some strange cures df fremdea by cssaal
.applications of fire to the lower parts'; which seems reasoaatk
'-enough, by the violent revulsion h may* make of humours froth
-the fcedd, and agrees with the opinions and practice? I m? ntiood
; before of jEgJrpt and A f rica. Perhaps blfrteriag hi the neck, aad
hot pidgeons,' may be in use ambng us upon the same ground*;
•*nd in our methods of Surgery nothing is found of such efft
tin the case of' old, ulcers as fire, which is certainly the grestttt
:dr*w*r*nd drier, and thereby the a^eatcst 'cleanse* tastes*

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MTOWOTUf4. WO

Jotflfd.' Iknew tery well that in diseases of cattle there is W-
fbtng more commonly 'used, nor with greater success, and con.
duded It was bat a tenderness to mankind that made it less in
use amongst us, and which had introduced corrosives and cans,
tics to supply the place of it, which are indeed but artificial 4res.
** 1 mfcrttiori all these reflections to show that the experiment I
resOlVed to make was upon thought, and not rashness or' impa-
tience (a* those called it that would have dissuaded me from it) ;
itrttn^cw^f1 reason was that I liked no other, because I kmi*
they failed everyday, and left men in despair of being eterwetl
eured-ofWiegout. l

*■■&€&. morning I looked o?er the book which Dr. Zuitchetn,
toti promised* raey written by the minister at Batavia. ' I pre*
tended not to jmlge of the Indian philosophy or reasonings upon
the cause of the gout ; but yet thought them as probable as those
vfphystetahs bete; and liked them so much ^he better, because.
tMseem* ^tftelr opinion id the- point is general 'among them, as
w4)l as tftefr fo&hdd of curing; whereas the differences among
ours1 are almost as many in both as there are phystci&ns thai
reasbn Ofjon the causes or practice upon the cure of that' disease!
They hoM that the cause of the g6ut is a malignant vapour that
lUNvpoh the joidt between the bone and the skin that covers
it,* which Hchtfg the most sensible of all parts of the body, cause*
thVrioiettce of the pain :' that the dwelling is no part' of the dis*
ease,' trat 'only an effect of it,' and of a kindness in nature, that,
to' reEere' the part affected, calls down humours to damp the
malignity of the vapour,' and thereby assuage the sharpness oif
lb*1 pain, which' srfdohi fails' whenever the part grows Tory much
twilled': that consequently the swettlngs and returns' of the gout
an* chiefly occasioned by the ill methods of curing' it at first V
fchat this -vapour fWling upon joints which hare not motion, and
thereby heat* enough to dispel* it, cannot be cured otherwise
than1 by burning, by which it immediately evaporates ; and that
1Mb Is evident by the present ceasing of the pain upon the second,
third, or fdtirth amplication of the moxa, which are performed
In a few minutes tftne : and the author affirms it happens oftem
there, that upon the last burning an extreme stench comes out of
the 'skin where the fire had opened it. -'

- : Whatever the reasonings were, which yet seemed ingenious
enough ; the experiments alleged with so much confidence,' and
t*«M s» general to thdstf parts, and told by an author Chat writ

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700 MUGWORT.

Jike a plain man, and one whose profession was ts> tell troth,
helped me to resolve upon making the trial. I was coafinnei
in this resolution by a German physician, Dr. Theodore Coledy,
who was then in my family, a sober and intelligent man, whoa
J dispatched immediately to Utrecht to bring me some of the
inoxa, and learn the exact method of using it from the man that
sold it, who was son to the minister of Batavia. Ha returned
with all that belonged to this cure, having performed the wholt
operation upon his hand by the man's direction. I immediately
snade the experiment in the manner before related, setting the
moxa just upon the place where the first violence of my pain
began, which was the joint of the great toe, and where the
greatest anger and soreness still continued, notwithstanding the
swelling of my foot, so that 1 had nerer yet in fire days beam
able to stir it, but as it was lifted.

Upon the first burning I found the skin shrink all round the
place ; and whether the greater pain of the fire had taken away
the sense of a smaller or no, I could not tell ; but I thoeght it
less than it was : I burnt it the second time, and upon it ob-
served the skin about it to shrink, and the swelling to flat yet
more than at first. I began to more my toe, which I had not
done before ; but I found some remainders of pain. I bant it
the third time, and observed still the same effects without, bat a
much greater within ; for I stirred the joint se? end times at ease;
and growing bolder, I set my foot to the groand without any
pain at all. After this I pursued the method prescribed by the
book, and the author's son at Utrecht, and had a bruised cJovn
of garlick laid to the place that was burnt, and cohered with a
large adhesive plaster to keep it fixed there : and when this was
^one, feeling no more pain, and treading still bolder and inaer
upon it, I cut a slipper to let in my foot, swelled as it was, and
walked half a dozen turns about the room, without any pain er
trouble, and much to the surprise of those that were aboat me,
as well as to my own. For though I had reasoned asysetf be-
fore-hand into an opinion of the thing, yet I could not expect
s.uch an effect as I found, which seldom reaches to the degree
that is promised by the prescribes of any remedies, where**
this went beyond it, having been applied so late, and the pre-
scription reaching only to the first attack of the pain, and before
the part begins to swell.

For the pain fii the burning itself, the first time it is sharp,

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ttUGWORT* 701

to that a man may be allowed to complain : I resolved I would not ;
bat that I woakl count to a certain number, as tke best measure
how long it lasted. I told six score and four, as fast as I could ; and
when the fire of the moxa was out, all pain of burning was over*
The second time was not near so sharp as the first) and the third a
great deal less than the second. The wound was not raw as I
expected, but looked only scorched and black ; and I had rather
endure the whole trouble of the operation, than half a quarter
of an hour's pain in the degree I felt it the first whole night

After four.ftnd. twenty hours, I had it opened, and found a
great blister drawn by the garlick, which I used no more, but
had the blister cut, which run a good deal of water, but filled
again by next night ; and this continued for three clays, with
only a simple plaster upon it ; after which time the blister dried
np, and left a sore about as big as a two-pence, which healed and
went away in about a week's time longer; but 1 continued to
walk every day, and without the least return of pain, the swell-
ing still growing less, though it were near six weeks before it
was wholly gone. I favoured it all this while more than I needed,
upon the common opinion, that -walking too much might draw
down the humour ; which I have since had reason to conclude a
great mistake, and that if I had walked as much as I coukl from
the first day the pain left me, the swelling might have left me too
in a much less time.

The talk of this core run about the Hague, and made the con-
versation in other places, as well as in the visits I received while
I kept my chamber, which was about a fortnight after the barn*
log. Dr. Zulichem came to me among the rest of the good com-
pany of the town, and much pleased with my success, as well
from his own great humanity, and particular kindness to me, sy
from the part he had in being the first prescriber of my en re,
and from the opinion it gave him of a common good fortune
' befallen all that felt, or were in danger of the gout

Among others hestold it to> M. Serinchamps was one, an envoy
of the duke of Lorrain's then in town ; a person very much and
very deservedly esteemed among all the good cqmpany in town,
and to whom every body was kind upon the score of his own*
good humour, or his master's ill fortunes : he had been long sub-
ject to the gout, and with constant returns of long and violent
fits two or three times in a year. He was a man frauk and g«f-
Mrons, and loved to enjoy health whilst he had it, without maJfc*

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709 MUOWOET.

ing too much reflection upon what was to follow^; and so <
bt was well) denied himself nothiog of what he bad armmd to eat
or drink ; which gaTC him a body full of humours, and jmde bis
its of the gout as frequent and 'violent as most I have hlovt)
when they came, he bore them as he could, and forgot them -ei
sooa as they were past, till a new remembrance; At tbb imm
bo lay ill of a cruel fit, which was fallen upon his knee, and wish
extreme pain : when he heard of my cure, be sent to me- first ft*
the relation of it, and upon it, for my moxa, and for Dr» Coteby
so apply it. lie suffered it ; but after his pleasant way roared
oat, and swore at me all the while it was burning, and naked if
I took bim for a sorcerer, that I sent to barn him afire* Tel
with all this, the pain went away upon it, and returned no 1
to the same place ; but he ^was something discouraged by a i
pain filling some days after upon his elbow on the other ssfc}
which gave him a new fit, though gentler and shorter them they
used to be.

About the same time one of the maids of my house -was grown
almost desperate with the tooth-acb, and want of sleep upends;
and was without remedy. The book gives* the same cnre'fst
certain in that illness, by burning under the car j and tfte man
who sold it at Utrecht had assured Dr. Ceteby be had seem many
cares by it in that kind. ' We resolved to try; which was done,
and the pain immediately taken away, and the wetum perfectly
weN, withoat hearing, of it any more, at least whUe *be was hi
my house!

• During the confinement of this fit, I fell into some methods,
and into much discourse upon* the subject of the gent, that nary
be perhaps as well worth reflection by such' as feel or apprehend
-k, as what I have told of this Indian cure. In the' first pfare,
from the day I kept my chamber, till I left it, and began to walk
abroad, I restrained myself to so regular a diet, as to eat iesh
but once a da^, and Kttle at a time, without salt or vinegar:
*nd to one moderate draught, either of water -or small ale. I
^concluded to trust to abstinence and exercise, as I had eter tv>
solfed, if I fell into this disease ; and if k continued, to confine
myself wholly to the milk dietv of which I had met with vary
many and great examples, and had a great opinion even hi loaf
and inveterate gouts. Besides this refuge^ I met with, in my visits
and conversation arising upon my illness,- many notions or me-
dicine* very new to me, and reflections that aiay^ be *e perhaps

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uvimnw

ty other men> Old prince Maurice of Nassaw tola me, he1
laughed at the gout, and though he had been several timed at-
tacked, yet it never gave him care nor trouble. That he used'
but one remedy, which was, whenever he felt it, to boil a good
quantity of horse dung from a stone horse of the hermeKnne co-
lour, as he called it in French, which is a native white, with a
sort of a raw nose, and the same commonly about the eyes.
That when this was well boiled in water, he set his leg in a pail
full of it, as hot as he could well endure it, renewing it as it
grew cool for above an hour together. That after it he drew his
leg immediately into a. warm bed, to continue the perspiration
*s loog as he could* and never failed of being cured. Whether
the remedy be good, or the circumstances of colour signify any-
thing more, than to make more mystery, I know not; but f
Observed* that he ever had a set of such hermehnne horses- in his
coach, which he tokl me was on purpose that he might nevef
want this remedy !

i The count Kinski, ambassador from the emperor to the treaty
*t.Nimeguen, gave me a receipt of the salt of hartshorn, by*
which a famous Italian physician of the emperors had performed
mighty cures upon many others as well as himself, and the last
year upon the count Moatecuculi: the use of this 1 am apt to
esteem, both from the quality given it of provoking sweat ex-
tremely, and of taking away all sharpness from whatever yon?
j> ut it in; which must both be of good effect in the cure of the
gout

i The Rhyngrave, mbm was killed last Summer before Mastricht,
<old mo his father the old Rhyngrave, whom I knew very welt;
had been long subject to the gout, and never used other, method
er remedy, than upon the very first fit he fell, to go out imroe-
4fctejy and walk, whatever the weather was, and as long as he
was able to stand, and pressing still most upon the foot that
threatened him j. when became home he went to a warm bed, and
was rubbed very well, and chiefly upon the place where the paiir
*)egun., If it continued, or returned next day^ he repeated the
same course, and was never laid up with it ; and before his death
recommended thu) course to his son, if he should ever fall into
tha,t accident.

: A Dutchman who had been long in the East Inches, told me
in one part of them, where he had lived some time, the genera!
remedy of aJl.Oiat. were sutyect*o the gout was rebWn^witk

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70* wgwoet*

bands ; and that whoever had slaves enough to do that constantly
every day, and relieve one another by turns till the motion raised
a violent heat about the joints where it was chiefly used) was ne-
ver troubled much, or laid up by that disease.

My youngest brother told me he had a keeper very subject to
it, but that it never laid him up, but he was still walking after
his deer or his stud while he had the fits upon him, as at other
times, and often from morning to night, though in pain nil the
while. This he gave me as one instance, that poor and toiling
men have sometimes the gout, and that many more may hare it,
who take no more notice of it than his keeper did, who yet he
confessed used to bring the fits of gout upon him by fits of
" drinking, which no doubt is a receipt that will hardly fail, if
men grow old in the custom.

M. Scrinchamps told me, a Lorrain surgeon had undertaken
to cure it by a more extraordinary way than any of these ;
which was by whipping the naked part with a great rod of net-
tles till it grew all over blistered; and "that he had once persuaded
him to perform this penance in a sharp fit he had, and the pain
in his knees so violent, as helped him to endure this remedy.
He said it was cruel, that all where he was whipt, grew so angry,
and swelled as well as blistered, that he thought it had given
him a fever that night. The next morning the part was nil at
stiff as a boot, and the skin like parchment : but that keeping
it anointed with a certain oil likewise of nettles, it past in twa
days, and the gout too, without feeling any more pain that fit ! .

All these things put together, with what a great physician
writes of cures by whipping with rods, and another with holly,
and by other cruelties of catting or burning, made me certainly
conclude, that the gout was a companion that ought to be treated
like an enemy, and by no moans like a friend, and that grew
troublesome chiefly by good usage ; and this was confirmed to
me by considering that it haunted usually the easy and the
rich, the nice and the lazy, who grow to endure much because they
can endure little ; that make much of it as soon as it come*, and
yet leave not making much of themselves too ; that take care to
carry it presently to bed, and keep it safe and warm, and indeed
lay up the gout for two or three mouths, while they give out that
the gout lays up them. On V other side, it hardly approaches the
rough and the poor, such as labourfor meat, and eat only for hnn»
ger ; that drink water, either pure, or but discoloured with malt j

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nvowoa*; $«5

tot know no we nf wine, but for a cbtdlaf, at it fa, md perhaps
was on) y intended : Or if such men happen by (Mr native const**
tattoos to fall into the gout, either they mind it not at all, having
no leisure to be tick ; or they use it like a dog, they walk on, or
they toil and work as they did before, they keep it wet and cold i
or if they are laid up, they are perhaps forced by that to fast more
than before, and if it lasts, they grow impatient, and fall to beat
it, or whip it, or cut it, or burn it ; and all this w&ile perhaps
never know the very name of the gout.

But to follow my experiment : I past that summer here at
Nimeguen, without the feast remembrance of what had happened
to me in the spring, till about the end of 'September, and then
began to feel a pain that I knew not what to make of, it) t\\t
same joint, but of my other foot : I had flattered myself with
hopes, that thetapour had been exhaled, as my learned authors
bad taught me, and that thereby the business had been ended :
this made me neglect my moxa for two days, the pain not being
violent, till at last my foot began to swell, and I could set it no*
longer to the ground. Then 1 fell to my moxa agaia, and burnt it
four times before the pain went clear away, as it did upon the last,
and I walked at ease, as I had done the first time, and within
six days after above a league without the least return of any pain !

I continued well till this spring, when about the end of March
feeling again the same pain, and in the same joint, but of the
first foot ; and finding it grow Tiolent, I immediately burnt it,
and felt no more after the third time; was never off my legs*.
nor kept my chamber a day. Upon both these last experiments
1 omitted the application of garlick, and contented myself with
a common plaister upon the place that was burnt, which crusted
and healed in very few days, and without any trouble. I hare since'
continued perfectly wall to this present June ; and with so muck
confidence of the cure, that I hare been content to trouble my.
self some hours with telling the story, which, it is possible,
may at one time or other be thought worth making publick, if
I am further confirmed by more time and experiments of my
own, or of others. And thereby I may not only satisfy Dr. Zn.
lichem, but myself too, who should be sorry to omit any good
I thought I could do to other men, though never so unknown*

JJut this cure, I suppose, cannot pretend to deal with inrete.
rate gouts; but I hare known so great cures, and so many dona

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706 MUGWOBT.

by obstinate resolutions of drinking no wine at all*, that I pat
more weight upon the part of temperance, than any other.
And I doubt very much whether the great eocreaae of thatdk-
ease in England within these twenty years, may not ha?e been
occasioned by the custom of ,so much wine introdaced into ov
Constant and common tables. For this use may be more perni.
dons to health than that of taverns and debauches, according to
the old stile, which were but by fits, and upon set or casual en-
counters. I have sometimes thought that this custom of using
wine for our common drink, may alter in time the very consti-
tution of our nation, I mean the native tempers of our boffin
and minds, and cause a heat and sharpness in our humours,
which is not natural to our climate. Our having been denied it
by nature, is argument enough that it was never intended as for
common use; nor do I believe it was so in any other countries,
there being so small a part of the world where it grows; and
where it does, the use of it pure being so little practised, and in
some places defended by customs or laws. So that Turks safe
not known it, unless of late years ; and I have met with mas/
Spaniards that never tasted it pure in their lives ; nor in the one
when I was in France, did I observe any I conversed with to
drink it unmixed at their meals. The true use of wine, is either
as I mentioned, for a cordial ; and I believe there is nota better
to such as drink it seldom ; or else what the mother of Lemuel
tells her son, " give strong drink to him that is ready to perish*".

* In this way oar famous accoucheur Dr. Clark has been cured.
+ It would be happy for mankind if wine were prohibited, and oilj
jpod, perfect beer used in its place.

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SEA WORMWOOD-
artemisia MARITIMA.

ClatsXIX. Syngenesia. Order II. Polygamia soperfiua.
Kssent. Gen. Char. The same as the first.

Spec. Char. Leaves many-cleft, tomentoeet Branches drooping: Flowers
oblong, downy, sessile.

DESCRIPTION.
Rises near a foot, the whole plant covered with white down*
Leaves irregularly divided into narrow, linear segments, covered
with a fine down. Flowers a brown yellow, forming pendent
spikes. Florets in the circamfereace three.

HISTORY.

Native of Britain^ plentiful on the sea shore, and flowers in
August and September.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
In its wild state it smells like mar am or camphor, but in our
gardens is less grateful : beat up with thrice its weight of fine
sugar it is made into a conserve, ordered by the London college,
and may be taken where the other preparations disgust too much.
It acts as a tonic, and is good in worm i

2z 3

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WORMSEED.

ARTEMISIA SANTONICUM.

CUut XIX. Syngenesta. Order II. Polygamia «perfl*a.
Esiekt. Gcif. Char. Same as the first.

$pkc. Char. Siem-Lcavet linear, pinnate-multifid : flr—dfcti nadifiac**
fytto leaning one way, reflected : Floret* fire.

DESCRIPTION.

X his rises two feet. The leares are of a pale green on fte
upper side, and whitish underneath. Flower larger, yellow,
roundish, placed loosely in spikes ; floraUleares strap-shaped.

HISTORY.

Natiye of Siberia, and flowers in September.

All the British colleges, hare giren this species as the plaot
which produces these seeds ; but the fact is by no means ascer-
tained. The seeds themseWes are small, oblong, smooth, and of
a greenish or grayish yellow colour. As the whole head is ga-
thered after the seeds are ripe, they are mixed with the seal*
Of the calyces and bits of stalks. Their taste is bitter, and s

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What acrid ; their smell strong and disagreeable. Those which
come from Aleppo are esteemed the best, and those from Bars
bary the worst When they hare no smell, and a less intensely
bitter taste, and are discoloured, and mixed with a longer kind
of seed, they are to be rejected. They are also adulterated with
the seeds of tansy and wormwood. The latter are easily known,
by ha? ing a light yellow colour, and resembling powdered hay
more than seeds.

MEDICAL tJSE.

Wormseeds are one of the oldest and most common althelmin*
Cos, especially in the lubrid of children. On account of their
essential oil, they are heating and stimulating*. »
They are gWen to children,

1. In substance, to the extent of ten grains, or half a drachm,
finely powdered, and strewed on bread and butter ; or made
into an electuary with honey or treacle; or candied with
sugar ; or diffused through milk, and taken in the morning
when the stomach is empty.
% In infusion or decoction ; bat td these forms their bitter*

ness is a strong objection.
After they have been used for some days, it is customary td
gire a cathartic; or they are combined from the beginning with
rhubarb, jalap, calomel, sulphate of iron, or muriate of am'
monja.

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COLTSFOOT.

TUSSILAGO FARFARA.

CtassXW. Syngenesia. Order II. Polyganiia auperflua.
Essemt. Gew. Char. Receptacle naked: Pappus simple: Scab* of uV

Calyx equal, equalling the disk, submcmbranous.
Spec. Cbar. Scape one-flowered, imbricated : Leave* tubcordate, angled,

toothed.

DESCRIPTION.
I Hfs plant rises six or eight inches. The scape is covered
with small pointed purplish leaves, like scales. The lea res are
very large, irregularly toothed, of a bright green above, down/
and white beneath, standing upon long radical footstalks. TJw
flowers are large, yellow ; those in the ray are very visible.

HISTORY.
Native of England, common in moist clayey places; tht
flowers usually appear before the leaves, and it flowers in Marcs
and April.

MEDICAL VlftTUE.
It is the first plant that vegetates in marie or limestone rabble.
The downy substance on the under surface of the leaves, wrapped

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COLTSFOOT, 711

in a rag, dipped in a solution of saltpetre, and dried in die son,
makes the best tinder. The leaves are the basis of the British
herb tobacco. They are somewhat austere, bitterish, and mo.
cilagtaons to the taste. They were formerly much used in coughs
and consumptive complaints ; and perhaps not without reason,
for Dr. Cttllen has found them to do considerable service in
•crophulous cases ; he gives a decoction of the dried leaves, and
finds It succeed where sea water has failed.— Cullen's Mat.
Med. p. 458. Aod Fuller relates a case of a girl, with twelve
scrophulous sores, who was cured by drinking daily as much as
she could, for above four months, of a decoction of the leaves
made so strong as to be sweetish and glutinous. Dr. Percival
found it useful in hectic diarrhoeas. — Bssays Med. and Exper.
voL ii. p. 224. A decoction with wormwood has done wonders
in calculous complaints. The common people use it as tea,
sweetened with honey, for colds and asthmas ; and find relief,
If not a cure.

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COMMON INULA, or ELECAMPANE.

INULA HELENIUM.

Clau XIX, Syngenesia. Order II. Polygamia raperfloa.
Eswent. Gen. Char. Receptade naked : Pappus simple : Anther* ending

at (be base in two setae.
Spec. Char. Leaves embracing, ovate, wrinkled, tomentose : Scales of tbr

Calyx ovate.

DESCRIPTION.
This plant rises three feet Leaves large, ovate, serrated, foil
of netted veins. Midrib large, fleshy; the upper leaves sessile.
Flowers very large, yellow, terminal : the florets in the ray li*
gulate, cut at the end into three sharp teeth.

HISTORY.

This is a very large downy perennial plant, sometimes found
wild in moist rich soils. It flowers in July and August Tht
root, especially when dry, has an agreeable aromatic smell: its
taste, on first chewing, is glutinous, and, as it were, somewbt

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COMMON INULA, OR ELECAMPANE. T13

rancid ; in a little time it discovers an aromatic bitterness, which
by degrees becomes considerably acrid and pungent

MEDICAL VIRTUtf.

The root is esteemed a good pectoral, and, like angelica root,
is candied ; and 'these hare become now a sweetmeat for chil-
dren. Dr. Hill says, that from his own eiperience he has found
an infusion of the fresh root, sweetened with honey, to be rery
successful in the hooping cough. There is another species of
this plant called dyseoterica, which is good in the flux, and it
ased by the common people for this purpose.

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MOUNTAIN ARNICA.

ARNICA MONTANA.

Class XXX. 8y agenesia. Order II. Polygamia svperflua.
RtSBirr. Grw. Char. Receptacle naked : Pappus simple : the Fknttb

the ray with ive filaments, but without anthers.
&pbc. Char. Leaves ovate, entire; two opposite canline leaves.

DESCRIPTION.

Rises a foot Radical leaves large, ending acute. CuKm
leaves sessile, obtusely lance-shaped. Flower large, yellow,
terminal. The florets in the ray conspicuous, ending in fin
sharp teeth.

HISTORY.

Leopards-bane is a very common perennial plant in the alp*
parts of Germany, in Sweden, Lapland, and Switzerland. It
flowers in July. The flowers, which are of a yellow colour, id
compound, consisting entirely of tubular florets, are distinguished
from similar flowers, with which they are often mixed, fro* ig-
norance or fraud, by the common calyx, which is shorter tksa
tot flor«ts,\ad consists entirely of lancet-shaped scales, Ijty

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MOUNTAIN ARNICA. 715

parallel, and dose to each other, of a green colour, with parpla
points. The calyx of the different species of inula are composed
of bristle-shaped scales, reflected at the points, and beset with
hairs. The florets of the genus Hypocharis are strap, shaped.

These flowers have a weak bitterish taste,* evidently combined
with a degree of acrimony ; and when rubbed with the fingers,
have, a somewhat aromatic smell. Their active constituents are
not sufficiently ascertained. They evidently contain a great
deal of resin, and some essential oil.

MEDICAL USE.

In their effects they are stimulating, and supposed to be dis-
cutient. lu small doses, and properly administered, they possess
very beneBcial effects, in raising the pulse, in exciting the action
of the whole sanguiferous system, in checking diarrhoeas, in
promoting expectoration, and most particularly in removing
paralytic affections of the voluntary muscles ; but their use is
frequently attended with no sensible operation, except that in
some cases of paralysis the cure is said to be preceded by a pe-
culiar prickling, and by shooting pains in the affected parts.
When given improperly, or in too large doses, they excite an
iusupportable degree of anxiety, shooting and burning pains,
and even dangerous haemorrhagies, vomiting, vertigo, and coma.
For these dangerous symptoms, vinegar is said to be the best
remedy. Haller says, that even gutta serena has yielded to the
powers of this medicine.

They have been recommended,

1. In paralytic disorders, in chronic rheumatism, in retention
of the urine, from paralysis of the bladder, in amaurosis.

2. In intermittent fevers, combined with Peruvian bark.

3. In dysentery and diarrhoea," but in some cases they havt
had bad effects.

4*. In putrid diseases.

5. In typhoid inflammations.

6. To promote the uterine discharge.

7. And in internal pains, and congestions, from bruises. In
the countries where they are indigenous, the flowers of the leo-
pards-bane have long been a popular remedy in these cases.

8. In epilepsy, according to Haller,

Dr. Collin, of Vienna, highly extols this plant. It had long
boan a desideratum of his to (tod au European plant of equal

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lid MOUNTAIN AB*TCA,

isttdkiaal powers with the Peruvian bark iot fevers of feist*,
matting and putrid kk) ; and after several fruitiest trills of A
ferent simples, at last be had the satisfaction to find them m tk
arnica ; for by the flowers of this plant, made into ao ekctttfj
with hooey, be cores! more than one tbonsaod patients Www.
tog under the different species of intermittent fevers in the Pn-
maa hospital, from December 1771 to July 1774; and dsrinj
the following winter the doctor made trial of a watery extract
of the flowers, by which he cured thirty quotidians, fortj-at
tertians, and fifty-eight quartans*

In putrid fe? era the doctor experienced equal success win tk
flowers employed in the way of infusion, with which many Ins.
dreds of patients were snatched from the very jaws of death.
However, there are some cases where the doctor lecuwsKsss
the root in preference to the flowers, believing the former t*
possess more cordial, tonic, and antiseptic qualities ; audits
accordingly directed in those cases where putridity and debfrf
are more prevalent than* fever; also in a malignant dyseater/
Dr. Collin could relate many hundred instances of the superior
efficacy of arnica root, and his practice in this disease was hni.
fated and confirmed by Dr. Dietl.

Dr. Collin further ascertains the medicinal powers whim si
attributes to tills root in thirteen cases of gangrenes, where it*
antiseptic effects admitted of more evident proof. As me ar-
nica, when first administered, often excites vomiting, or new-
ness at the stomach, it will be necessary to begin with smsil
doses ; but by repeating the medicine two or three times, Ass
uneasiness goes off>

They are contraindicated by an inflammatory diathesis, s pis*
disposition to hmmorrhagies, and internal congestions.

They are best exhibited in the form of infusion. One or tsv
scruples may be infused with half a pound of water, and drssfc
at proper intervals. The flowers should be wrapt up in a ps»
of linen, as otherwise their down is apt to be diffused in the i-
quid, and to cause violent irritation of the throat.

Tho root is exhibited in the same manner and cteomstssfll
as the flowers, but it Is more apt to excite vomiting. In p<*#
its dose is from five to ten grains.

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ftftM

COMMON CAMOMILE.

ANTHEMIS NOBILIS.

Class XIX. Syngenesia. Order II. Polygamia superflua.
Essent. Gen. Char. Receptacle chaffy : Pappus none : Calyx hemisphe-
rical, nearly equal : Flowers of the ray more than five.
SfecCbab. Leaves doable-pinnated, linear, acute, rabvillous.

DESCRIPTION.

This plant rues near a foot. Stem slender, trailing, hairy, of
a pale green. Pinnae divided into three pointed segments*
Flowers compound, in the centre yellow, in the ray white,
standing singly, terminal. Flowers in the ray usually eighteen,
atrap»shaped, ending in three sharp teeth.

HISTORY.

Camomile is a perennial pknt, indigenous in the south of
England, but cultivated in our gardens for the purposes of mo»
dicine. Flowers in July and August The flowers have a strong,
not ungrateful, aromatic smell, and a very bitter nauseous taste.

Their active constituents are bitter extractive, and essential
oil. To the latter are to be ascribed their antispasmodic, carmi.

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718 COMMON CAMOMILE.

native, cordial, and diaphoretic effects ; to the former, their ia-
fluence in promoting digestion.

MEDICAL USE.

Camomile flowers are a very common and excellent remedy,
which is often used with advantage in spasmodic diseases, in hy-
steria, in spasmodic and flatulent colics, in suppression of the
menstrual discharge, in the vomiting of puerperal women, in tat
afterpains, in gout, in ratermittcnts, and in typhus.

No bitter is more commou than the camomile : light watery
infusions of the flowers are much used to promote vomiting, and
to assist the operation of other emetics ; and strong infusions of
it taken in small doses, from two to four ounces, twice or tares
times in the day, have been found to be good stomachics, and
to assist digestion ; and with the addition of a few drops of the
diluted vitriolic acid, have been found jgood remedies for re-
moving feverish complaints ; and have at times put a stop to
intermitting fevers. Dr. Morton says, that he has cured inter-
mi ttents which resisted the bark, by giving frequently in tht
day a scruple of the flowers of chamomile in powder, with tea
grains of salt of wormwood, and as much diaphoretic antimony.

As camomile excites the peristaltic motion, it is useful in dy-
sentery, but is not admissible in all cases of diarrhoea. From
its stimulating and somewhat unpleasant essential oil, camofaut
is also capable of exciting vomiting, especially when given m
warm infusion ; and in this way it is often used to assist ths
action of other emetics.

Externally, camomile flowers are applied as a discutient and
emollient, in the form of clyster or embrocation, in colic, dy-
sentery, and strangulated hernia, &c.

Camomile flowers are exhibited,

1. In substance, in the form of powder, or rather of elec-
tuary, in doses of from half a drachm to two drachms, either
alone, or combined with Peruvian bark, as for the core of in-
termittent fevers.

2. In infusion, in the form of tea. This may either be drank
warm, for promoting the action of emetics, or cold, as a sto-
machic.

3. In decoction or extract. These forms contain only the ex-
tractive, and therefore may be considered as simple bitters.

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COMMON CAMOMILE. 719

4. The essential oil may be obtained by distillation. This
possesses the antispasmodic powers in a higher degree than the
simple flowers, but on the contrary does not possess the firtues
depending* on the presence of the bitter extractive.

• Although this be a fine remedy, and merits all our praise, still
it must be remembered, that as the cord too tightly strung, re-
laxes its tone, so as never to recover again, thus the stomach,
too much braced by a long-continued use of camomile tea, loses
irrecoverably its tone, and becomes a truly afflicting evil arising
from imprudent use of this tonic. ,

PRESCRIPTIONS.

$. 1. Take of camomile, in powder, scruple 1,

syrup of orange-peel, as much as is sufficient :

Make a bolus, to be taken twice a day, as a tonic.

r>. 2. Take of camomile, in powder • drachms 4,
■ conserve of hips - . drachms 4,
■ syrup of ginger, as much as is sufficient :

ftf ake into an electuary : dose a small tea-spoonful three timet
a day.

1^« 3. Take of camomile flowers,

lemon peel,

orange peel, of each, drachms 4,

> boiling water - - pint 1 :

Let them remain for four hours, and strain* To the strained
liquor add syrup of ginger, drachms 6\ The dose is a wine glass
in the morning early, and repeated an* hour before dinner, for
habits debilitated by drinking, or natural weakness of the sto*
mach.

J£. 4. Take of camomile flowers • • drachms 3,

rhubarb, in powder - drachms 2,

- coriander seeds, bruised, drachm 1 :
Make into tea, by adding a quart of boiling wafer over night.
A wine glass is to be taken half an hour before dinner to create
an appetite.

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SPANISH CAMOMILE,

PELLITORY OF SPAIN.

ANTHEMIS PYRETHRUM.

CtattXlX. Syttgenesia. Order II. Polygamia superfloa.
t. Caw. Cba*. The some at the preceding.
Srac. C«ae. 8i$m staple, one* towered, aecambtatt L—et 4t^df
piaaated.

DESCRIPTION,
Risks nearly a Coot. Pinnae nearly linear, of a pale green co-
lour. Flowers large, in (he disk yellow, in the ray white os
the inside, and purple beneath.

HISTORY.
This plant, though a nati?e of warm climates, as Barony*
bears the ordinary winters of this country, and often floweri
successi? ely from Christmas to May. The roots also grow larger
with us than those with which the shops are usually supptid
from abroad. They are seldom so big as the little fieger, ***

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Spanish camomilb. 721

the test are dry, compact, of a brown colour, and not easily
cut with a knife.

Pellitory root has no sensible Smell ; Its taste is very hot and
Acrid, bat less so than that of arum ; the juice expressed from it
has scarce any acrimony, nor is the root itself so pnngent when
fresh, as after it has been dried. Neumann obtained from 900
parts of the dry root only 40 of alcoholic extract, and after.
Wards 670 of watery ; and by a reverse procedure, 600 of wa^
tery, and 20 of alcoholic extract Both the alcoholic extracts
were excessively pungent Its acrimony, therefore, was denied
from a resin.

MEDICAL USE.

The principal use of pellitory in the present practice is as a mas*
ticatory, for promoting the salival flux, and evacuating the viscid
humours from the head and neighbouring parts; by this means
It often relieves the toothach, some kinds of pains of the head,
And lethargic complaints. A vinous infusion is also useful in
debility of the tongue.

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COMMON YARROW.

ACHILLEA MILLEFOLIUM.

Class XIX. Syngenesia. Order II. Polygamia foperfloa,
Emkjtt. Gen. Char. RccrptmtU chaffy : Pappus none : CWj* tw*.

imbricated : Florets of the ray about fae.
Spec. Char. Leaves bipinnate, naked : the 8e£*u*t* toothed : Stem tkmt

farrowed.

DESCRIPTION.
1 his plant rises a foot Leaves alternate, bipinnated. Pis*
pointed. Flowers white, tinged with a little purple beaeitfc,
terminal, forming a flat corymbits.

HISTORY.
Native of Britain, common in dry pastures, and flowers fro*
July till October.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
A table-spoonful of the expressed juice of this plant his, ac-
cording to Haller, cured a cancer of the breast; it has stop*
spitting of blood, and cured the bloody flux ; and Dr. Back-
wald says, that he experienced great advantage from this hob
himself in the bleeding piles. Stahl boasts of it as a specific 0

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COMMON YARROW. 729

blind piles. It is esteemed a vulnerary ; and the great Haller
say*, that an infusion taken inwardly, together with an outward
application of its leaves, cut fine, has very well and speedily
succeeded, from a wast of the arnica, in dissipating dreadful
bruises arising from a fall from a tree. It may perhaps derive
its name from the use Achilles made of this plant with his army;
for the celebrated Stahl reports, (bat it readily cicatrizes wounds*
There is a species called Ptarmica, from its juice exciting
sneezing, and thereby relieving the head.

3 A 2

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HOLY THISTLE.

CENTAUREA BENEDICTA.

Clots XIX. Syngenesis. Order III. Polygamia frastmaa.
Essbvt. Gbk. Cham. Receptacle bristly : JPopput simple : Fiords ***

ray funnel-bhaped,' longer than those of the disk, irregular.
Spec Cham. Gi/yx doubly-spined, woolly, and involucred : Lena**'

decurrent, with spinous teeth.

DESCRIPTION.
This plant rises two feet Leaves long, elliptical, nmdaafei
or variously serrated, and barbed with sharp points; above*
bright green, beneath whitish, and netted. Upper leaves *»-
tile, lower ones on footstalks* Flowers inclosed with an iai*
lucre of ten leaves. Florets yellow. Seeds crowned.

HISTORY.
This is an annual plant, indigenous in the Grecian few
and cultivated in our gardens. It flowers in June and M>
and perfects its seeds in the autumn. The herb should beg*-
thered when in flower, quickly dried, and kept in a tctj *J
airy place, to counteract its tendency to rot or grow wfi&T*
The leaves Jme a penetrating bitter taste, not very stro*I *

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HOLT THISTLE* 725

tery durable) accompanied with an ungrateful flavour, from
which they are in a great measure freed by keeping. Water
extracts in a little time, even without beat, the lighter and more
grateful parts of this plant : if the digestion be continued for
some hours, the disagreeable parts are taken up* A strong de-
coction is very nauseous and offensive to the stomach* Rectified
spirit acquires a very pleasant bitter taste, which remains unin-
jured in the extract* •

Neumann got from 1020 parts, 270 alcoholic, and afterwards
300 watery extract; and inversely, 600 watery, and 60 alco-
holic

MEDICAL USE.

The virtues of this plant seem to be little known in the pre-
sent practice* The nauseous decoction is sometimes used to pro- x
voke vomiting, and a strong infusion to promote the operation
of other emetics* But this elegant bitter, when freed from the
offensive parts of the herb, may be advantageously applied to
other purposes* Excellent effects have been frequently expe-
rienced from a slight infusion of centaurea, in loss of appetite,
where the stomach was injured by irregularities. A stronger
infusion, made in cold or warm water, if drunk freely, and the
patient kept warm, occasions a plentiful sweat, and promotes
the secretions in general.

The extract prepared by evaporating the expressed juice,
with the addition of a little alcohol, to prevent it from becoming
Mouldy, has been strongly recommended in the catarrh of chil-
dren*

The seeds of this plant are also considerably bitter, and have
bpen sometimes used with the same intention as the leave*.

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BLUE CARDINAL FLOWER

LOBELIA SIPHILITICA.

Class XIX. Syngenesia. Order VI. Monogamia.
EuEirr. Gen. Char. Calyx five-cleft : Corolla one-petalled, irtefAr

Capsule beneath, two- or three*ce!lcd.
Spbc. Char. Stem erect : Leaves ovate-lanceolate, tobterratei: Lsamst

the Calyx reflexed.

DESCRIPTION.
Xhii plant rises two" feet Leaves sessile, acute. Flowenoot
compound, numerous, bine, spiked* Leaves of the calyx fr*>
halbert-ihaped, fringed at the margin. Corolla fonneUhapdj
border five-cleft

HISTORY.
Native of Virginia, and flowers from August till October.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

The root of this plant, which grows in the moist pbos "

Virginia, stands recommended as a certain remedj for curing A*

renereal disorder among the wild Indians in North Amo*1'

but it has not hitherto been brought to Europe, and trisb"*"

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BLUE CARDINAL FLOWER. 727

•f it to ascertain its viriftto. The Indians in North America
communicated to the late Sir William Johnson an account of
the effects of this root in the lue* venerea, which has since been
published in the fourth quarto volume of Iinnaeus's Amoenitates
Academical By this account, a strong decoction is ordered to
be made with four, ire* six, 6t more roots of this plant, and
the decoction to be drunk in lirgb quantity ewery morning for a
fortnight or three weeks, or longer. If the decoction should
prove too strong, and purge) it is then ordered to be made
weaker by lowering it with water. The patient is directed to
wash himself with the decdctidut, us well as to drink it, and to
live on a spare vegetaW* diet during its use. #

Since this publication of linnesaf 1 have heard no further ac-
count of its effects? nor of its havmg^ been tried by any European
practitioner. It is certainly to be wished that a sufficient quan-
tity of this root was imported into Europe, and that proper
trials were made to ascertain its virtues ; for, should it produce
the effects alleged, it would undoubtedly be a very valuable ac-
quisition to the materia medica*

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SWEET VIOLET.

VIOLA ODORATA.

Class XIX. Sypgenesta. Order VI. Nonogamia.
^sft^TT. Gen. Char. Calyx five- leaved : Corolla five-petalled, htegiUe,

behind horned: Capsule above, three- valved, one-celled.
$pec. Char. No Stem : Leaves cordate, stoloniferoos.

DESCRIPTION.
A small plant Leaves veined, crenated, on tbe upper part
smooth, of a shining green, underneath paler, somewhat hairy,
standing upon long footstalks. Flowers single, of a deep purple
palyx composed of five leaves, and the corolla of five petals.

HISTORY.
This plant is perennial, and is fonnd w$ld nnder hedges vi
in shady places ; but the shops are generally supplied from gar-
dens. It blows in March, and April. Its flowers are so i*
markablc for their odour and colour, that they have giroi 9
name to both. In our markets we meet with the flowers of
other species : these may be distinguished from the foregoing &f
their being larger, of a pale colour, and having no smell.

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IWB1T VIOLET, 729

MEDICAL USE.

They impart their colour and flavour to aqueous liquors : a
pyrup made from the infusion has long had a place in the shops,
find is said to be an agreeable and useful laxative for children,
but is chiefly ?alued as a delicate test of the presence of uncom-
trined acids or alkalies, the former changing its blue to a red,
find the latter to a green colour.

OFFICINAL PREPARATION.
Sybup of Violet Flowers. (Syrupus Violas.)

Take of the fresh flowers of the violets, two pounds,

— — of boiling distilled water, fi?e pints :
Macerate for twenty-four hours, and strain the liquor through.
£ cloth, without pressing, and add the double refined sugar, to
make the syrup.

CULINARY PREPARATION.

Vinegar acquires a very agreeable colour and taste by infusing
\ n it some petals of this odoriferous flower.

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PANSIE,

THREE-COLOURED VIOLET.

VIOLA TRICOLOR.

CUt* XIX. Syngenesia. Order Yl. Moaogamia.
Emevt. Geh. Char. Same ai the last.

Spec. Char. Stem triquetrous, spreading ; Leaves oblong, cat : SCpufc*
pinoatifid.

DESCRIPTION.
This plant rises also four or fi?c inches. Leaves variously
shaped, ovate or elliptical, crenate, pointed, on long footstalks.
Flowers single, on long peduncles of three colours. Calyx five*
leaved, pointed. Corolla of five petals, three of these marked
with purple lines, lowest petal broad, emarginate.

HISTOfcY.
Native of Britain ; grows in cornfields, or uncultivated
grounds ; flowers all the summer.

MEDICAL USE.
Though many of the old writers, says Dr. Woodville, on the

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PAN8IE, Om TtfREE-COLOURED VIOLET. 731

materia medica represent this plant as a powerful medicine in
epilepsy, asthma, ulcers, scabies, and cutaneous complaints, yet
the Viola tricolor owes its present character as a medicine to the
modern authorities of Storck*, Metzgert, Hoase, and others;
especially as a remedy for crusta lactca. For this purpose, a
handful of the fresh herb, or half a drachm of it dried, and
boiled two hours in milk, is to be strained, and taken night and
morning. Bread with this decoction is also to be formed into
a poultice and applied to the part. It merits certainly the atten-
tion of the English physicians.

• Dc Viola tricolore. Erlaog, 1782.

t De crusta lactea infantum ejusdemque remedio dinertatio, qnam
Acad. Sclent. Lugd. Gall, pnemio coronavit, 1776. Franc ad Moen. 1779.
8ec also London Medical Journal, voL U.

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IPECACUAN.

VIOLA IPECACUANHA.

In ibe index of that incomparable work, the Edinburgh New
Dispensatory, by Dr. Duncan, amongst the violets I find viola
ipecacuanha ; and as the faculty are much divided about what
produces the true ipecacuan, we shall retain it in this place,
although the root may perhaps belong to different plants.

Ipccacuan, in the language of South America, means vomit*
ing root, and is applied to various vegetables which possess that
property in any remarkable degree; hence the confusion and
contradictions which have long prevailed concerning the plant
which furnishes our officinal ipecacuan : but this confusion is
increased by several varieties of ipecacuan being found in the
shops.

1st, The ash-coloured, or Peruvian ipecacuan, is a small
wrinkled root, bent and contorted into, a great variety of figures,
brought over in short pieces, full of wrinkles and deep circular
fissures quite down to a small white woody fibre that runs in
the middle of each piece : the cortical part is compact, brittle,
looks smooth and resinous upon breaking: it has very tittle
smell j the taste is bitterish and subacrid, covering the tongue

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IfrECACtTAtf. 783

as ft were with a kind of mucilage. This, according to Mutid,
is obtained from the Psycotria emetica, and is that commonly
used.

3d, The brown ipecacuan is small, and somewhat more wrin«
kled than the foregoing ; its bark is of a brown or blackish colour
without, and white -within ; tikis is brought from Brazil, and is
the root of a cephaelis, which Is perennial, and grows in moist
fihady situations. A complete monography of ft, and an excel-
lent plate, were published, in the sixth volume of the Transac-
tions of the Linn&an Society, by professor Brotero, who calls
it the Callicocca ipecacuanha ; but the genus callicocca has been
united by Willdenow with that of cephaelis, to which we haie
therefore referred it. The plate of Brotero corresponds with
that published in Woodville's Medical Botany, vol. iii. from a
plant sent in spirits from Brazil by governor Philips to sir Jo*
seph Banks, but which unfortunately was not in flower, and
also with the rude draught of Piso, who first examined it. It
has been sometimes observed, even in a small dose, to product
violent effects.

3d, The white sort is woody, has no wrinkles, and no per-
ceptible bitterness in taste. It is probably the root of a viola.

Besides these, the name of ipecacuan is given to various spe-
cies of Cynanchum, Asclepias, Euphorbia, Dorstenia, and Ru-
eMia. With regard to their comparative strengths, Decandolfe
jays, that vomiting is produced by 22 grains of the Cynanchum
ipecacuanha, 24 of the Psycotria emetica, 60 to 72 of the Viola
calceolaria, and one to three drachms of the Viola ipecacuanha.

Ipecacuan was first brought into Europe about the middle of
the last century, and an account of it published about the same
time by Piso ; but it did not come into general use till about the
year 1686, when Helvetius, under the patronage of Lewis XIV,
introduced it into practice.

Neumann got from 7680 parts, 1440 alcoholic, and afterwards
1880 watery extract; and inversely, 2400 watery, and 600 al-
coholic. I find that the tincture of ipecacuan does not redden
infusion of litmus, or precipitate solution of gelatine ; that it
is precipitated by water, by red sulphate of iron, and readily
acquires a green colour from excess of the chalybeate; and by
infusion of nut-galls. According to Dr. Irvine, the watery so-
lution is more emetic than the alcoholic, the decoction than the
distilled water, and the cortical than the ligneous part Others

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754 IPECACUAW*

have found that the resinous part is more apt to act upon the
intestinal canal, aad to operate by stool By long-continued
boiling it becomes almost inert ; and the emetic property of ipe.
cacuan is most effectually counteracted by means of the tcctic
acid, insomuch that thirty grains of the powder, taken in twe
ounces of vinegar, produced only some loose stools.

From these experiments it evidently appears that ipecacua
contains rfnchonin and a resin, and that its emetic property decs
not depend upon the latter, although we can scarcely attribute
it to the former, as in ether substances it does not manifest aoj
emetic property. It is therefore probably owing to some other
principle soluble in water and alcohol.

MEDICAL USE.

The primary effect of ipecacuan is that of stimulating the ita*
mach. If the dose be sufficiently large, it excites vomiting, bj
inverting the peristaltic motion of the stomach and duodenum ;
in a smaller dose it only produces nausea, and operates by stool;
and in still smaller doses it gently stimulates the stomach, in-
creases the appetite, and facilitates digestion. Its secondary efc
fects depend on the sympathy of other parts with the stomach;
and in this way only can we explaid its action as antispasmodic;
diaphoretic, expectorant, and in checking hzmorrhagiea. Its
beneficial effects, in some cases, also seem to be owing to the
general concussion given to the whole system during the actios
of vomiting.

Ipecacuan, properly administered, often proves serviceable,

1. In intermittent fevers. It has frequently succeeded in stop*
ping these, when given about an hour before an accession was
expected, and also when given so as to produce vomiting at the
time of an accession, or at the end of the cold stage*

2. In continued fevers. We have never seen more decidedir
beneficial effects from the use of any medicine whatever, than
from the exhibition of ipecacuan in the commencement of typhus
fever. An emetic, succeeded by a diaphoretic regimen, when
administered sufficiently early in the disease, very frequently cots
it short at once; and when it fails in this desirable object, it al-
ways has a beneficial influence on the progress of the fever.

3. In inflammatory diseases, rheumatism.

4. In eaanthematons diseases, when the eruption is disposd
to recede.

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IPBCACTAN. i 735

5. In hsemorr hagles* when given in nauseating doses.

6. In proguvia, especially ia dysentery; so much so, that it
va* formerly esteemed a specific against that disease. But Cullen

(attribute* its good effects, in this iostanee, to its producing a
steady deteraunatien of the peristaltic motion of the intestines
downwards, when, given in repeated small doses.

7. In many spasmodic diseases ; in epilepsy, asthma, dys-
pnea*, pertussis, chroote diarrhcea, hysteria, melancholy, mania.

6. In cachectic diseases, as in some kinds of dropsy.
P. In impetiginous diseases ; in jaundice.

10. In local diseases ; ia amaurosis, and several of the dyso-
rexia.

11. Lastly, in every instance when we wish to evacuate the
stomach, as when it is overloaded with food, or when poison,
•specially opium, has been swallowed.

The use of ipecac uan, as an emetic, is contraindicated,
1. Where there is a disposition to hsemorrbagy.
. $« Where there is an increased flow of bloed (towards the

, 3. In very irritable subjects.

4. In pregnant women, and persons afflicted with hernia.

Dr. PoaaW Monro has favoured us with the following judi-
cious remarks on the employment of this drug.

This root, says this experienced physician, is one of the mildest
and safest emetics we are acquainted with, and is employed as
.such from three er four grains to a scruple or half a drachm.
It has likewise been greatly recommended in the cure of dysen-
teries, given in repeated small doses, from one to three, four,
4ive, or six gsains, three or four times in the day.

But theie small doses of ipecacuan, though they sometimes
puke, and at other times keep up an increased discharge by
.Stool, yet they seldom give effectual relief in the dysentery, not
.being strong enough to carry off those putrid corrupted bu-
rnouts which are pent np within the bowels, and give rise to
man/ of the troublesome symptoms ; besides, they generally
keep np such a nausea, sickness, and griping, 'that it is ex*
tremely difficult to prevail with patients to continue, even for a
short time, the use of this medicine given in this manner : and
in dysenteric cases I have always found it to answer better to
give a scrapie or half a drachm, or such dose as operated freely
IU an emetic, and after its operation to give a full dose of some

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736 iftscACtrAK*

tnild, active, purgative medicine* such as I have recomtoeniei
in treating oo the dysentery* in my Observations on the DbeejeJ
of the Army, in order to clear the rest of the alimentary caaaL

In habitual diarrhoeas, Dr. Fothergill has recommended to
give, every morning while the patient is in bed, one grain, ooe
grain and a half, or two grains of it in any common draught,
which) he says, sometimes acts as an emetic, and brings up bile;
and sometimes gives a few stools extraordinary ; and that a snail
bason of thin gruel should be given to promote ks operation;
and a cordial anodyne draught, if nothing forbid it, at night to
secure rest ; and he says, a few doses of these medicines geoe-
rally restrain the discharge. But he observes that such doseJ,
or larger ones repeated once in six hours, often make the disease
worse.

Dr. Akenside recommends in the chronical spasmodic asthma*
to give from throe to &ve grains of ipecacuan every morning, or
from five to ten grains every other morning, for a month or ax
weeks together ; and says, that though hb patients have con*
plained of the fatigue and nauseousness attending it, yet they
found such relief as to acquiesce in it, and sometimes to desire to
return to it after it had been laid aside.

Of late a notion has prevailed, that the keeping np a names
by means of small doses of ipecacuan, or of watery solution of
emetic tartar, was of great service in promoting the cure of
fevers, as well as of fluxes, from a belief that they affected the
nervous system, and were capable of exciting die action of the
extreme vessels, and of increasing the secretions by the skin, sad
of the internal organs. Hitherto 1 have not found this method
to answer my expectations, and I have always observed, that
auch a dose of an emetic as emptied the stomach freely, and gars
a shake to the whole frame, had a much better effect than those
frequent repeated small doses, which kept the patient in a dis-
agreeable, uneasy situation for hoars together ; and 1 am per*
auaded that no practitioner of experience, who has attended
large hospitals, where he has had an opportunity of trying and
seeing the effects of different medicines, will ever recomoesd
this nauseating method for general practice in fevers, though "t
may be of use in some particular cases.

Geoffroy, in the second volume of his Treatise on the Maferi*
Medica, mentions, that six grains of this root generally fooit
freely ; and that ten grains vomit as powerfully as a seraph

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IPECACUAN. 737

nay, as two scruples ; and that therefore he thinks it useless to
order larger doses as an emetic. And in the year 1767, Dr. Pye
. relates, in the first volume of the Medical Observations and In-
quiries, published at London, a number of cases of patients hu
booring under fevers, diarrhoeas, and dysenteries, where very
small doses of this root, from one to eight grains, are said to
have operated as emetics in the most gentle manner, and with
the greatest good effects ; from whence he concludes that this
medicine may be given from half a grain to six grabs, with the
utmost safety, to persons of all ages, and in the greatest state of
debility. Since the publication of Dr. Pye's Obserrations, I have
frequently ordered the ipecacuan, in the small doses he recom*
mends, but they have often failed of operating as I expected $
nay, I have often seen ten or twelve* grains have little effect,
when some days after a scruple has operated freely on the same
person ; 1 therefore now almost entirely confine the small doses
to children, or people who are very weak ; but where the patient
is an adult, and strong, and I wish that he should vomit freely,
I generally order from fifteen to thirty grains of the powder, or
from an ounce to an ounce and a half of the tincture.

Dr. Bergius says that the powder of ipecacuan, given in so
small doses as the third part of a grain, every two or three hours,
had stopt uterine haemorrhagies ; though he tried it without effect
in the hasmoptoe, the piles, and other bleedings.

Joined to opium (as it is in the powder called Dover's) it pro*
duces one of the most powerful sudorific nledicines we know,
tvhich has often produced copious sweat in rheumatic, dropsical,
And other cases, after other remedies had failed.

When it was first introduced for the cure of dysenteries, it
tised to be given from a Scruple to half a drachm or a drachm in
substance ; or in form of such a strong watery infusion as ope-
rated powerfully as an emetic. Geoffroy is of opinion that most
of its virtues in the cure of dysenteries are contained in the wa*
tery infusions ; though he says that the root itself is much more
efficacious in the dysentery, and in other diseases, than any of
its preparations.

Ipecacuan is exhibited,

1. In substance, in powder* Full vomiting will generally be
produced in an adult by a scruple or half a drachm ; and though
less might answer the purpose, fortunately an over-dose is scarcely
attended with any inconvenience, as the whole of it is vomited

3 a

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738 iFECACITAir.

-with the contents of die stomach as soon as it operate*. Til
vomiting b promoted and facilitated by drinking copiously of
warm watery fluids* On the contrary, when vomiting is not
intended, liquids must be rather drunk sparingly, and the don
must be diminished to a grain or less. In such small doses it a
conveniently combined with any proper adjunct, in the form of
powder, pill, or bolus.

£• In infusion. One drachm may be infused in four oojoh
of water, and taken in repeated doses tfll it operate.

3. Infused in wine*

Ipecacuao not only checks the narcotic effects of opium, wd
is therefore one of the best antidotes for its poison, but recipro-
eally the emetic powers of ipecacuan are checked by the tui-
tion of opium, and the combination operates by increasing At
euticular discharge* And we hare now only to add,- that it
greatly promotes the action of cathartics.

OFFICINAL PREPARATIONS.
Wuns op Ipecacoaw. (Vinam Ipecacuanhae. L. D.)

Take of the root of ipecacuan, bruised, two ounces;
■ Spanish white wine, two pints :
Digest for ten days, (seven days, D.) and strain*

Edin.

Take of ipecacuan, bruised, one ounce;

Spanish white wine, fifteen ounces :

Macerate for seven days, and filter through paper.

Both these wines are very mild and safe emetics, and dead/
equally serviceable, in dysenteries, with the ipecacuan in sib-
stancc, this root yielding nearly all its virtues to the Spaafe*
white wine* The common dose is an ounce, more or less, ac-
cording to the age and strength of the patient.

Powder or Ipecacuan and Opium, on Cojipockd Pdwpo

OF IPECACUAff, FORMERLY DOVER'S POWDER. (Pttlfll Ip*

oacuanhse et Opii. E. Pulvis Ipecacuanha Compoatos, oS*
Pulvk Doveri. L. E>.>

Take of ipecacuan, in powder,

■ * ■ ■ Opium, (hard purified, D. L.) of each one part;

■ sulphate of potass, eight parts:
Triturate them together into a fine powder.

The sulphate of potass, from the grittiness of its crystal** *

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iPBCACUAir. 739

perhaps better fitted for tearing and di?iding the tenacious opium
than any other salt; this seems to be its only use in the prepara-
tion* The operator ought to be careful that the opium and ipe-
cacuan be equally diffused through the if hole mass of powder,
otherwise different portions of the powder must differ in degree
of strength.

This powder is one of the most certain sudorifics, and as such
was recommended by Dr. Do?cr as an effectual remedy in rheu-
matism. Modern practice confirms its reputation, not only in
rheumatism, but also in dropsy, and several other diseases,
where it is often difficult, by other means, to produce a copious
sweat The dose is from two to fire grains, repeated according
as the patient's stomach and strength can bear it. It is proper
to avoid much drinking immediately after taking it, otherwise
it is wery apt to be rejected by vomiting before any other effects
are produced. Perspiration should be kept up by diluents.

PRESCRIPTIONS.

1£. 1. Take of ipecacuan, in powder . grains 10,
* tartarized antimony - grain 1 :

Mix for an emetic powder, to be taken at seven in the evening.
This is the ordinary dose for an adult

I£. 2. Take of ipecacuan, in powder • - . grains 12,
■ compound powder of tragacanth, grains 12,

■ opiate confection, as much as is sufficient : i
To form twelve pills ; one is to be taken night and morning for
an asthma, or for habitual diarrhoea.

R . 3. Take of ipecacuan wine . . drachms 7,

■ antimonial wine - - drachm 1,
-i syrup of violets - - drachm 1,

' ■ rose water - - - drachms 3 :

Make into a draught, to be taken at eight in the evening ; or
for an infant give a tea-spoonfiiT every five minutes until it ope-
rates ; and half of it for a child of ten or twelve years. It has
no taste.

I£. 4. Take of ipecacuan • • .... grains 7,

■■ compound extract of colocynth, grains 14:

Make into seven pills, of which take one going to bed, or one
night and morning, as occasion may require. Excellent for cos-
tive habits, but not to be taken by delicate persons, or during
•pregnancy.

?b 2

MALE ORCHIS.

ORCHIS MASCULA.

Class XX. Gynandria. Order I. Diandria.
Emewt. Gen. Char. Nectary a horn behind the flower.
Spec. Char. Bulb* undivided : Lip of the Nectary four-lobed, aendatd:
Hvrn obtuse : Petals behind reflcxed.

DESCRIPTION:
The root is a double tuber. Stalk simple, upright, purpltt
towards the top. Leaves long, pointed, embracing the stem-
Flowers purple, terminal, in a regular spike. Bracteas attend-
ant on each flower, purple. Corolla composed of n>e petals,
three outward, two inward, making a kind of helmet. The
nectary before petal-form, cut into three segments ; middle as*
emarginate.

HISTORY.
Common in meadows, and flowers in April and May.

MEDICAL USE.

Salep, which is imported here from the East, and formerff
held in great estimation, is now well known to be a preparation

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MALE ORCHIS. 741

•f the root of* our common field orchis, which was first sug- '
gested by Mr. J. Miller, and different niethodg of preparing it
hare been since proposed and practised : of these the latest and
most approred is that by Mr. Mault, of Rochdale, which we
shall transcribe from the words of Dr. Percival, who follows
Mr. Mault in recommending the cultivation of a plant in Britain
which promises to afford so useful and wholesome a food as the
Salep.

Dr. Percival says, " Mr. Mault has lately favoured the public
with a new manner of curing the orchis root, and as I have seen
many specimens of his salep at least equal, if not superior, to
• any brought from the Levant, I can recommend the following,
which is his process, from my own knowledge of its success:—
The new root is to be washed in water, and the fine brown skin
which covers it is to be separated by means of a small brush, or
by dipping the root in hot water and rubbing it with a coarse
linen cloth. When a sufficient number of roots have been thus
cleaned, they are to be spread on a tin plate, and placed in an
oven heated to the usual degree, where they are to remain six or
ten minutes, in which time they will have lost their milky white-
ness, and acquired a transparency like horn, without any dimi-
nution of bulk. Being arrived at this state, they are to be re-
moved, in order to dry and harden in the air, which will require
several days to effect ; or by using a very gentle heat they may
be finished in a few hours."

Salep, considered as an article of diet, is accounted extremely
nutritious, as containing a great quantity of farinaceous matter
in a small bulk, and hence it has been thought fit to constitute a
part of the provisions of e^ery ship's company, to prevent a fa-
mine at sea. For it is observed by Dr. Percival, that this powder
and the dried gelatinous part of flesh, or portable soup, dissolved
in boiling water, form a rich thick jelly, capable of supporting
life for a considerable length of time. An ounce of each of these
articles, with two quarts of boiling water, will be sufficient sub-
sistence for one man a day. Dr. Percival not only recommends .
the use of salep as other authors have done in diarrhoea, dysen-
tery, dysury, and calculous complaints; but he thinks " in the
symptomatic fever, which arises from the absorption of pus,
from ulcers in the lungs, from wounds, or from amputations,
salep used plentifully is an admirable demulcent, and well adapted

742 VALB ORCHIft.

to resist that dissolution of the crasis of the Hood wfckh is s»
erident in these cases."

Let anciens doanotent le satyrion dans do lait pour erndtar a-
l'acte vtalrien. Les modentes da terns de Cosoans prescriroiewt
de chofeir cette esp&oe poor ingredient de l'61ectuafre diasaty-
rium, qui 6toit destin6 aux mdmes usages. La racine poaseda
une odeur spermatique tres-remarqaaWe.— -Hatter.

Sir John Hill relates, that a fellow whom he knew was oaoe
a year before the justices for the damage he did, always apo-
logised for it by saying that orchises were then ha plenty, and ho
could not resist eating them.— Hill's Mat. Med.

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SNAKE-ROOT.

ARISTOLOCHIA SERPENT ARIA.

Class XX. Gynandria, Order IV. Hexandria.
FjMent. Gem. Char. Calgx one-petalled, tongue-shaped, entire r jRi-

A7&i six : CaptuU six-celled, beneath. '

Spec. Char. Leaves cordate-oblong, flat: Stem weak, bending, smooth;

Flowers single, short

DESCRIPTION.

This plant rises eight or ten inches in height. Leares heart-
shaped, entire, pointed, Tented, upon footstalks. Flowers of
a purplish brown colour, base globular, the middle contracted
and twisted, extremity spreading.

HISTORY.
Native of Virginia, flowering in August

744 SNAKE-ROOT.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

Virginian snake-root grows ia Virginia and Carolina; k
has an aromatic smell, and a hot, pungent, bitterish taste; it
contains besides its volatile aromatic (which Cartheuser alb
camphorated and spirituous), both gummous and resinou* prin-
ciples. A watery infusion gets from an ounce about two drarhw
of extract, and a spirituous about one drachm ; and both of
them retain the flavour and the taste of the root; the spirituous
tincture is the strongest. By distillation with water it > it-Ids its
flavour to it; but little or no essential oil can be obtained, as-
less a great quantity of the root be put into the still.

This root was first used in America as a remedy against tbf
bites of serpents; it is a warm cordial aromiiic, and acts as a
diaphoretic and diuretic ; it is looked upon as an excellent alex-
ipharmic, and has been much employed as a cordial medicine for
supporting the vis t/i/te, and promoting a free perspiration in low
and putrid fevers ; in the decline of such fevers, when joined to
the bark, it often proves an excellent medicine, for it makes tfce
bark more cordial and sit easier on the stomach. The dose ia
substance is from six grains to half a drachm, and it has bees
sometimes given the length of a drachm every four hours.

It is found that intermittent fevers yield sooner to the bark
mixed with serpentaria than without it, and it enters properly
into what is called the compound tincture of bark, as well as
into an electuary with bai k.

The editor of this work has frequently employed the serpen-
taria in the low stages of small-pox, and has often found it do
wonders in stopping mortification, joined with opium and other
cordials ; a remarkable instance of which occurred in the case of
Mr. Cossart From a bad fracture mortification came on, aid
it advanced so rapidly, attended with delirium, that Mr. Astley
Cooper and Mr. Luxmore, eminent surgeon*, declared all hopes
to have vanished, when Dr. Thornton ordered serpentaria, which
was given, two drachms of the tincture with ten grains in pow-
der, and five drops of opium, every three hours, which calmed all
the outrageous symptoms, and stopt the mortification, and en-
abled an operation to be performed, by which this gentlemail
life was preserved.
Tincture of Snake-root. (Tinctora Sefpentaris. L. D.)

Take of Virginian snake-root, sliced and bruised, three ounces;

■ proof spirit, two pints ;

Digest for seven days, and strain.

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SNAKE-ROOT.

745

This tincture, which contains the whole virtues of the root,
may be taken to the quantity of a spoonful or more every &we
or six hours ; and to this extent it often operates as an useful
diaphoretic

PRESCRIPTIONS.

I£. 1. Take of snake-root, in powder . grains 15,

powder of con tray erva • grains 10,

simple syrup, as much as is sufficient :

Made into a bolus, to be taken every four hours :

fy . 2. Take of snake-root, bruised, <

■ contrayerva, equal parts - drachms 3,

; boiling water .... ounces 12:
Macerate for two hours, and strain off; then add,
Tincture of snake-root . . ounces 2,
Syrup of ginger .... drachms 2 :
For a mixture, of which two table-spoonsful are to be taken
every three hours. In low stages of fever, confluent small-pox,
^ when sores threaten gangrene, and the powers of life appear
sunk.

LONG-ROOTED BIRTHWORT.

ARISTOLOCHIA LONGA.

Clas$ XX. Gynandrja. Order TV. Hexandriii.
EttcifT. Gen. Char. Same as the preceding.

£pec. Char. Ltaws cordate, petioled, entire, obtuse: Stem wrak:
FUmen single.

DESCRIPTION.
Rises a foot in height Leaves heart-shaped, obtuse, veined,
alternate, on footstalks. Flowers on peduncles, large, a blue
purple, tongue-shaped.

HISTORY.
Native of Europe, and flowers from June till October.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
The Virtues, says Dr. Woodville, which the antients ascribed
to aristolochia were very considerable, and it was conse-
quently employed in various diseases, particularly those thong**

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LONG-BOOTE* BIBTHWORT.

to proceed from obstructions*, more especially of
system t; hence the name aristolochia is said to have
its supposed emmenagogue powers £. And as a w
lating medicine Dr. Cullen tells us § be found it ua
cases of retention and chlorosis, but never in cases
sion. Aristolochiahas also been long very generally
as a remedy for the gout, and it is the first ingrec
Portland powder ||, which has been much celebra
cure of this disease. It appears, however, that th
tinued U6e of this powder, which is necessary for pr
return of arthritic paroxysms, seldom fails to superic
mature senile state of body, and to lay a foundatii
fatal diseases 5. It is probable that the medicinal
this plant are somewhat allied to those of its congei
pentaria; but the sensible properties of the latter
it to be a more active medicine.

Aristolochia is given in substance from a scru
drachms tor a dose.

• FerneHos, Method. Med. lib. vi. cap. 13. p. 163.
. + Hippocr. Dc Nat. Muliebri. p. 57«. Oper. Foesii.

J Ab m^wrt et **xu*. It has also been derived from Ark
Is said to have first discovered its virtues.

S See Mat. Med. vol. ii. p. 83.

| The powder is thus prepared : R. Arbtol. rotund, genii
fol. chamsedr. cbamspit. centaur, min. aa p. sb. f. pulvis.
tab powder is directed to be taken every morning ( jejnno *
the space of three months, when the dose is to be diminished
ters of a drachm for the next three months, and afterwards
srix months in doses of half a drachm, which during the secon
taken every other morning.

f Brunner, De Pancr. p. 143. Werlhoff. Caut. Med. T
See also Callen's First Lin,

CLIMBING BIRTHWORT.

ARISTOLOCHIA CLEMATITIS.

Clast XX. Gynandria. Order IV. Hcxandria.
JRmeht. Gew. Char. Same as the first.

Spec. Char. Leaves cordate ; Stem erect: Flowers axillary, crowded to-
gether.

DESCRIPTION,
Rises two feet Leave* on footstalks, alternate, smooth, pear-
shaped. Flowers numerous, rising out at the axillae of the
leaves in bunches, of a pale yellow. Corolla tubular, tongue*
shaped, at first erect.

HISTORY.
Native of Britain, in woods and hedges, flowering from Julv
till September*

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
The root of this plant, taken inwardly, animates the force of
nature when dull, and hence has succeeded in cachexies, sop-

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CLIMBING BIRTHWORT.

pression of the months, and oyercomes that chronic in
Mihich occasions the gout. Haller adds, u Only a drac
be employed on this occasion, for more will excite v
nor should it be often repeated, for the long use of tl
robs the stomach of its villous coat, which has hap]
those who have used the stomachic infusion so much b
Munster." Chomel found that a decoction of half an
aristolochia with an equal quantity of the heads of wo
taken for five mornings, has cured piles wheQ comme
be fistulous, and matter has been discharged per anum.
cases he found advantage also from a glyster of a dec<
this plant It enters into the composition of the black
which Galen recommends to be applied to malignant ul<
has been nsed with success against the bite of the viper.

COMMON ARUM, or WAKE-ROBIN.

ARUM MACULATUM.

Class XX. Gynandria. Order V. Polyandria.
Essent. Gen. Char. Spatha monophyllous, hooded r Spadix above, nakei

beneath, female, in the middle stamineous.
Spec. Char. No Stem : Leaves hastate, entire : Spadix dabbed.

DESCRIPTION.
1 his plant rises half a foot or more. Leaves radical, three W
four, arrow-shaped, of a deep green spotted with black, stand-
ing upon long footstalks. Calyx a spatha, large, inclosing the
spadix, above are nectaries like stamens ; then appear the an-
thers, which are clustered together, and of a purple colour;
under these the nectaries appear again, and then the gennina,
which become berries of a bright scarlet, and look very conspi-
cuous in hedges.

HISTORY.

Native of Britain, flowers from June to July.

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€011*0* ARUM, OB WAKE-ROBI*

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
This root is a very acrid, pungent, strong, he
when fresh ; insomuch that it leaves its taste in
twenty. four hours after it is taken ; but it loses ii
being kept. It has been recommended for promol
excretions, and for quickening the circulation in c
habits, and in diseases from viscid phlegm. Foi
had been but little used as an internal remedy, on
great acrimony when fresh, and the uncertainty
after it has been kept ; but of late years some pra
again brought it into use, and recommended it a
remedy in some cases. In the new edition of D
pensatory, published with additions, the editor
experienced great benefit from it in rheumatic paii
those of the fixt kind, which were seated deep ; ii
have giveu from ten grains to a scruple of the fi
or thrice a day, made into a bolus or emulsion
and mucilaginous substances, which cover its pung
*ent its making any painful impression on the to
rally excited a slight tingling sensation through ih
and when the patient was kept warm in bed, prod
sweat." Ue says, neither wine, water, nor spl
virtues.

Dr. Lewis observes, that the most convenient i
paring it for exhibition seems to be by beating
with gummy resins, and making the mixture i
that in this form it will retain its virtues longer
powder.

Geoffroy recommends this root in a number of
lays that it is a good stomachic, and useful for
appetite ; that it frequently removes intermittent
useful in the chlorosis, jaundice, and hysterical,
eal, and other disorders ; that the dose of both i
the dry root is from half a drachm to a drachr
being boiled in vinegar it becomes powerfully diu
Bergius says that he has found great use from t
with alkaline aromatics and absorbents, in the for
ari compositus, in cases of obstinate head-achs, 1
intervals without fever, nay, in which the puis
flower than natural, and the teeth turn black,
who smoke tobacco j and (hat he has found this

-792' COMMON ARUM) OR WAKE-ROBIN.

after bleeding, blistering, scarifications, purges, and mineral
waters, have had no effect* And he adds that he has seen tk
following powders, given every two hours till they purge, re-
move intermitting fevers, without a relapse : Take of arum root,
dried, ten grains, and as much tartarus vitriolatns, and five grains
of rhubarb, all in powder, and mix them together. If these
powders purged too much at first, he lessened the quantity of
the arum.

The pulvis ari compositus, which was in the last Dispensatory,
used formerly to be sometimes ordered as a warm cordial At-
retic, the length of ten, fifteen, or twenty grains, in dropsies,
and other chronic disorders ; but as the arum loses its virtues by
drying, this powder has been omitted, and its place supplied by
a conserve made with the fresh root and sugar. The best me-
thod of preserving the arum root is to put it into welUstopt bot-
tles immediately after it has been carefully dried.

OFFICINAL PREPARATION.
Conserve of Arum. (Conserva Ari. L.)

Take of fresh root of arum, bruised, half a pound ;

double refined sugar, a pound and a half: •

Beat them together in a mortar.

This is one ot the best forms for exhibiting this simple, as to
virtues are destroyed by drying, and are not extracted by toy
menstruum. It may be given to adults in doses of a drachm.

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COMMON NETTLE.

URTICA DIOICA.

Class XXI. Monoecia. Order IV. fetrandria.
Essent. Gew. Char. Male flower. Calyx four-leaved: Nectary id the

centre, asp-shaped. Female flower: Calyx two-leaved: Sui one,

saining.
Spec. Chae. Leaves opposite, cordate : Racemes two.

DESCRIPTION.
Rises from three to four feet. Stem erect, quadrangular, de*
fended with hairs. Leaves large, heart-shaped, pointed, deeply
serrated, wrinkled, veined, covered with sharp stings, hi pairs,
on long footstalks. At the base of the footstalks are four sti.
puis* Flowers very inconspicuous.

HISTORY.

Common every where ; flowers in July. The stings are very

curious microscopic objects : they consist of an exceedingly fine

pointed tapering hollow substance, with a perforation at the

point, and a bag at the base. When the string is pressed upon,

3 c

754 COMMON NETTLE.

it readily punctures the skin, and the same pressure forces ip
from the bag an acrimonious fluid, which instantly enters into
the wound, and excites a burning inflammation.— iSee Hooke,
Discoveries by the Microscope, p. 22, tab. 12 : Guettard, Mem.
de l'Acad. de Sc de Paris, 1751, p. 350.

The nettle, so greatly despised, merits, however, the attention
of the curious. The young shoots, in the spring, are boiled and
eaten by the common people instead of cabbage greens. — Ligbtf.
]. c. The stalks may be dressed like flax, or hemp for making
ropes, nets, cloth, paper, &c. ; a practice not uncommon in
some parts of Russia and 'Siberia.— Vide Falk, Beytragexor
Topogr. Renntnbs des Russ. Reichs, vol. ii. p. 254. Vet Acad.
Handl. 1747, p. 59. Pctersb. Journ. 1778, p. 370, and others.
The nettle is said to be poisonous to frogs ; for if the plant be
thrown into a vessel where these animals are con6ned, thej soon
begin to swell, and in a few days perish. — Vide Hagstrom Star
om Biskotsel, p. 150. Asses regale on nettles and thistles, whkk
the horse refuses, and in Sweden it is cultivated as food for oxen.
It is made into paper, and the roots furnish a beautiful yellow
for dyeing. §teel dipt in its juice becomes more flexible.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
Nettle broth is good against the scurvy. The expressed juice
given a table* spoonful four times a day stops haemoptysis, and
lint dipped in it, and forced up the nostrils, has stopt bleeding
of the nose, when every other remedy has failed. Cancers harp
been said to have yielded to the juice of nettles, as much being
taken as four ounces a day. Paralytic parts being stung with
this herb, have been found to regain vigour, as well as Koto
lost from rheumatism. The seeds produce a fine oil, and taken
inwardly in moderate quantity excite the system, especially la
plaisirs de Vamour, and are very forcing, therefore should be
cautiously employed. i Twenty or thirty grains produce vomit-
ing. Excessive corpulency may be reduced by taking a few of
these seeds daily. Lastly, fourteen or fifteen of these seeds,
made into a powder, and taken night and morning, will cuii
{he goitre, without injuring the stomach, or health.

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COMMON MULBERRY.

MORUS NIGRA.

Chut XXI. Moncecia. Order IV, Tetrandria.
Emewt. Gcw. Char. Male flower— Calyx four-parted: Corolla none*

Female flower — Cafyx four-leaved: Corolla none: Styfe* two: Calyx

berried: Seed one.
Spec. Ceab. Leaves cordate, rough.

DESCRIPTION.
This rises to a lofty spreading tree. Leaves heart-shaped, ser-
rated, veined, toothed, peduncled. Flowers male and female on
the same tree; the male in catkins above, female beneath.
Flowers in June. Fruit ripens in September.

HISTORY.
The mulberry tree is a native of Italy, and is now cultivated
generally oyer Europe, and thrives very well in England. It i$

Sea

756 COMMON MCLBERRY.

cultivated not only for its fruit, bat as yielding food for bQl-
worms, which can alone thriye on its leaves.

There are two kinds, the white and black, that are cultivated
for the sake of the silk-worm ; bat it is the white mulberry
which is commonly cultivated for its leares to feed silk-worms ii
France, Italy, &c. In Spain, as the Rer. Mr. Towusend is.
forms us*, they prefer the white mulberry in Valencia, aodtk
black in Granada. The Persians generally make use of the 1st.
ter, and Mr. Miller was assured by a gentleman who had nude
trial of both sorts of leaves, that the worms fed with the bbd
mulberry produced much the best silk ; but that the letfes of
the black should never be given to the worms after they hue
eaten for some time of the white, lest they should burst

Sir George Staunton says that the trees he observed in Chitt
did not appear to differ from the common mulberry trees of Et-
rope ; that some of them were said to bear white, and some red
or black fruit, but that often they bore none ; and that the
tender leaves growing on young shoots of the black mulberry
are supposed to be the most succulent +.

Mr. Evelyn remarks, that the leaves of the white mnlberrr
are far more tender than those of the black, and sooner pro-
duced by at least a fortnight Nor is this tree less beautiful to
the eye than the fairest elm, and is very proper for walks sod
avenues. The timber will last in water as well as the most sold
oak, and the bark makes good and rough bast ropes J.

The white mulberry and the silk-worm were unknown to
Theophrastus and Pliny. About the year of Christ 551, two
Persian monks, employed as missionaries in some of the Chris*
tiau churches established in India, penetrated into the country
of the Seres, or China. There they observed the labours of tst
silk- worm, and became acquainted with the art of working op
its productions into a variety of elegant fabrics. They explained
to the Greek emperor at Constantinople these mysteries, hitherto
unknown, or very imperfectly understood in Europe ; and as.
dertook to bring to the capital a sufficient number of these vos*
derfui insects. This they accomplished by conveying the eggs
of the silk- worm in a hollow caue. They were hatched bj tat
heat of a dunghill ; they were fed by the leaves of a wild ibbJ-

• Travels, vol. Hi. p. 264. t Embassy, vol. ii. p. 420.

J Sylvia, book ii. chap. 1,

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COMMON MULBEBRV.

berry tree, and they multiplied and worked in the sam
as in those climates where they first became objects c
attention and care. Vast numbers of these insects w
reared in different parts of Greece, particularly in the '.
neeus. Sicily afterwards undertook to breed siUuwoi
equal success, and was imitated, from time to time, i
towns of Italy. In all these places extensive manufactv
established, with silk of domestic production.

From the reign of Justinian, it was mostly in Gre
some of the adjacent islands, that silkworms, which h<
troduced into Europe, were reared.

Soon after the conquest of Constantinople by the \
in 1304, they attempted the establishment of the silk i
tnre in their dominions ; and in a short time the silk f
Venice Tied with those of Greece and Sicily.

About the beginning of the fourteenth century the Fl
manufactures of silk appear to have been ? ery considers

It came much later into France; the manufacture
though much encouraged by Henry IV, not having be
established there, till under Louis XIV, by Colbert t.
land, it is well known, that all the endeavours of Jamc

• Robertson's India, p. 80, from Pracopioj} alio p. UQ- See
Hbt. vol. iv. p. 71, under Justinian.

+ Evelyn, bee* ii. chap. 1.

X Part of king James's letter to the lord lieutenant of each
England.

u Janes Ro*,

M We have conceived, as well by the discourse of our own reas
Information gathered from others, that the making of silk might a
effected here as it is in the kingdom of France, where the same h
years been pot in practice ; for neither is the climate of this isle i
stinct or different in condition from that country, especially from t
parts thereof, but that it is to be hoped that those things, which by
prosper there, may by like industry used here, have like success ; a
private persons, who for their pleasure have bred of those wor
found no experience to the contrary, but that they may he nouri
maintained here, if provision were made for planting of mulhei
whose leaves are the food of the worms $ and there hy we have tbou
hereby to let you understand, that although in suffering this inve
take place we do show ourselves somewhat an adversary to our prof
is the matter of our customs, for silk brought from beyond seas wil
some diminution ; nevertheless, when tfcera it a question, of go gi

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758 COMMON MtTLBERirr.

raise mulberry trees, and make silk, utterly failed, and bare
never since been retired to any extent

The difference which Linnaeus sets down between the blad
mulberry and the white is, that in the former the leaies ire
subquinquclobate, blantish, and rugged, in the latter undivided
and shining ; the fructification of the former diaecous, of the
latter monoecous. These distinctions, however, are not end
The black mulberry is a larger stronger tree; -and the fruit is a
dark blackish red, and more acid.

Mr. Miller's account is, that the black mulberry has general)/
male flowers or catkins on the same tree with the fruit, but k
dften happens that some of the trees which are raised from seeds
have mostly male flowers and produce no fruit ; and that he hat
observed some trees which produced only catkins for many yean
after they were planted, afterwards have become fruitful. Tib
latter observation agrees with a general remark that I have made

public utility, to come to our kingdom and subjects in general* and whereby
(besides multitudes of people of both sexes and all ages) such as in rtpd
of impotency are unfit for other labour, may be set on work, comforted
and relieved, we are content that our private benefit shall give way to 1st
public.

M And therefore being persuaded that no well-affected subject wul rense
to put his helping hand to such a work, as can have no other private ad «
us but the desire of the welfare of our people, we have thought good is *»
form only to require you, as a person of the greatest authority in that comty,
and from whom the generality may receive notice of our pleasure with mere
conveniency than otherwise, to take occasion, either at the quarter so*
sions, or at some other public place of meeting, to persuade and reqsire
such as are of ability to buy and distribute in your county the number tf
ten thousand mulberry plants, which shall be delivered 4o them at the rste
of three farthings the plant, or at six shillings the hundred, containing iw
score plants.

" And because the buying of the said plants, at this rate, may at the fat
seem chargeable to our said subjects (whom we would be loth to burthes}*
we have taken order, that in March of April next there shall be delifered
at the said place a good quantity of mulberry seeds, there Jo be sold to ski
as will buy them, by means whereof the said plants will be delivered sts
smaller price than they can be afforded being carried from hence: hsvuf
resolved also, in the mean time, that there' shall be published in print a phis
instruction and direction, both for the increasing^ the said mulberry trees,
the breeding of the silk-worms, and all other things needful Co be safe**
stood for the perfecting of a. work every way so commendable and pream-
ble, as well to the planter as to those that shall use the trade.

" Having now made known unto you the motives, as they staid ft*

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COMMON MULBERRY*'

On monoecous trees, that whilst they are young th
flowers and very little fruit. Mulberry trees of a c
not only more fruitful than young ones, but their
larger and better flavoured.

This tree grows naturally in Persia, whence
brought to the southern parts of Europe* It is
common in every part of our continent^ where tli
not very severe. In the northern parts of Swed<
live in the open air ; and in several parts of German
against walls, and treated in the same way as peac
tender fruits are here.

It was cultivated with us in 1 596. by Gerarde. Ii
old kitchen gardens near London there are trees of
age, which are very healthy and fruitful, and their
and better flavoured than those of younger trees,
that most of these were planted in the time of ki
-when there* was a project of setting up a silk m
England.

public good, wherein every man is interested, because we k
the example of our own deputy-lieutenant and justices w
cause, if you and your other neighboursVill be content to
quantities hereof, to distribute upon your own lands ; we an
knowledge thus much more in this direction of ours : that all
nature, tending to plantations, increase of science, and wo
are things so naturally pleasing to our own disposition, as '
for an argument of extraordinary affection towards our pers
judgment we shall make of the good dispositions in all those
press, in any kind, their ready minds to further the same, a
it that, in furthering the same, they seek to further our honoi
ment, having seen in a few years past, that our brother tl
hath, since his coming to the crown, both begun and brougt
the making of silks in his country, where he bath won to ti
and to his subjects a marvellous increase of wealth, would ace
happiness to us, if the same work, which we began among o
no less zeal to their good, than any prince can have to their
time produce the fruits which there it hath done.

" Wherefore we nothing doubt but ours will be found as
apt to further their own good, now the way is shown them
vcreign, as those of France have been to conform themselv
. tion of their king.

" Given under our signet, at our palace of Westminster, t
venber, in the sixth year of our reign of England, Franc
and of Scotland the two-and-fortieth."

700 COMMON MULBEftftT.

The trees which are designed to feed silk-worms shoiM i
be suffered to grow tall, but rather kept in a sort of hedge; ut
instead of pulling off the leates singly, they should be sheared of
together with their young branches, which is much sooner deee,
and is not so injurious to the tree.

It is surprising that this precept of Mr. Miller's has not bees
attended to, not only in England, but in many of the southern
parts of Europe, where making silk is of some consequence,
since the practice is followed in the East, and is in itself per-
fectly rational. Father Lourdro informs us, that in Cocka.
china they root up the plants every third year, and make frcsk
plantations of the cuttings, because the young shoots afford a
more delicate food for the worms, and produce a finer silk. Sr
George Staunton relates, that in a part of China through wUca
the embassy passed, mulberries were cultivated with the greatest
care ; and planted in rows, ten or twelve feet asunder, in be*
of a moist, but not inundated, loamy earth, thrownfbout afoot
high above the surface,. The trees are frequently prosed or
dwarfed, in order to make them produce a constant succes**
of young shoots, and tender leaves. Our planters reconnneod
a dry soil for the mulberry ; but it appears from the author?
just quoted, that in China and Cochinchina it is cultivated is I
rery moist one, by the sides of rivers, or where rice is growl
in trenches between the rows of trees.

There jet remains a hope that the cultivation of silk msybi
successfully introduced into these realms.

The thanks of the Society of Arts were given to Mr. Seren,
of Bauenhoff, in Livonia, the author of an excellent paper, oa
the manner of rearing and treatiog silk. worms in the northers
parts of Europe ; and the Society, in consequence of this con*
munication, elected him one of their corresponding members f.

MEDICAL VIRTUES.
The ripe fruit abounds with a deep violet-coloured joke,
which in its general qualities agrees with that of the other sddo-
dulcc9, allaying thirst, partly by refrigerating, and partly ty
exciting an excretion of mucus from the mouth and fauces,* a
similar effect is also produced in the stomach, where, by cor*

* Those who wish for further information on this important subject a^
consult my Botanical Extracts, or Philosophy of Botany, p. 480.

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COMMON BfXTLBERltr.

recting putrescency, a powerful cause of thirst is rem
is more especially the case with all those fruits in wli
much prevails oyer the saccharine part, as the cur
we have already noticed, and to which the medicina
this fruit may be referred ; but both these, and most
summer fruits, are to be considered rather as articles
of medicine, The London college directs a syrupus
is an agreeable vehicle for various medicines.

The bark of the root of the mulberry tree has an
taste, and possesses a cathartic power. It has been
used as an anthelmintic, particularly in cases of taenia
is half a drachm of the powder*

OFFICINAL PREPARATION.
Syrup of Mulberries, (Syrupus Mori. J

Take of mulberry juice, two pints ;
As soon as the fasces have subsided, put it into a b
mersed in boiling water? for about a quarter of an 1
cold, strain it, and make it into a syrup.

This is a very pleasant cooling syrup ; and wit)
tion it is occasionally used in draughts and juleps, fc
thirst, abating heat, &e. in bilious or inflammatory
Sometimes, likewise, it is employed in gargarisms fc
lions of the month and tonsils. ■

COMMON O A K.

QUERCUS ROBUR.

Class XXX. Monoecia. Order VI. Polyandria.
Kssrwt. Gen. Char. Male flower— Calyx five-deft: Corolla none: St*

tnina ten : Female flower — Calyx monophyllous, entire, rough: Curt"

none : Styles two or five : Seed one, ovate.
Spec. Char. Leaves oblong, smooth, sinuate: Lobes roundish: Sfdos-

long. _^^_

DESCRIPTION.
This tree is the king of the forest, and has a most noble ap-
pearance. The leaves have a peculiar shape, being deepty &*>
and formed into blunt lobes, standing upon short footstalks-
The flowers are inconspicuous, but the fruit afterwards Iwconai
conspicuous, being fixed in a cup, and probably was the M
nourishment of man.

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COMMON* OAK*

HISTORY.
This valuable tree is well known to be a nativ
•where it has in some instances acquired an extraord
tude: its wood is justly preferred for ship-building.

USES.

Oak saw-dust is the principal indigenous vegef
dyeing fustian. All the varieties of drabs, and did
of brown, are made with oak saw-dust, variously i
compounded. Oak apples are likewise used in dye
stitute for galls. An infusion of the bark, with a si
of copperas, is used by the common people to dye
purplish blue, which is sufficiently durable.

But the chief use of the bark of this tree is for tl
tanning. Before we detail the process, it may be p
serve, that raw hides and skins being composed of
intersecting each other in every direction, the genei
of tanning consists chiefly in expanding the pores, a
a sort of greasy substance contained in them ; and th
of the astringency and gummy resinous properties
to fill and reunite them, so as to give firmness and
the whole texture. But this theory, has been con
some chemists, who suppose that the animal jelly
the skin is not dissolved, but unites during the pro
astringent principle of the bark, and forms a comb
luble in water.

The process of tanning varies considerably, no
ferent countries, but even in different parts of the s
The following is the method most approved and
London and its vicinity, where the best feather is
lowed to be manufactured.

The leather tanned in England consists chiefly o
known by the name of butts or lacks, hides, and ski

Butts are generally made from the stoutest and
hides, and are managed as follows : After the hor
off, the hides are laid smooth in heaps for one oi
the summer, and five or six in the winter : they a
on poles in a close room called a smoke-house, in •
a smouldering fire of wet tan ; this occasions a sin
putrefaction, by which means the hair is easily got o

764 COMMON OAK.

ing the hide on a sort of wooden horse or beam, and scraping
it with a crooked knife. The hair being taken off, the Hide is
thrown into a pit or pool of water to cleanse it from the dirt,
&c., which being done, the hide is again spread on the wooden
beam, and the grease, loose flesh, extraneous filth, &c. carefully
scrubbed out or taken off; the hides are then put into a pit of
strong liquor called ooze or wooze, prepared in pits called Utcka
or taps kept for the purpose, by infusing ground bark in water;
this is termed colouring: after which they are removed into an-
other pit called a scowering, which consists of water strongly
impregnated with vitriolic acid, or with a vegetable add pre-
pared from rye or barley. This operation (which is called
raising), by distending the pores of the hides, occasions then
more readily to imbibe the ooze, the effect of which is to astriogo
and condense the fibres, and give firmness to the leather. The
hides are then taken out of the scowering, and spread smooth
in a pit commonly filled with water, called a binder, with a
quantity of ground bark strewed between each. After lying a
month or six weeks, they are taken up ; and the decayed bark
and liquor being. drawn out of the pit, it is filled again with
strong ooze, when they are put in as before, with bark between
each hide. They now lie two or three months, at the expira-
tion of which the same operation is repeated ; they then remain
four or five months, when they again undergo the same process ;
and after being three months in the last pit, are completely tan-
ned, unless the hides are so remarkably stout as to want an ad-
ditional pit or layer. The whole process requires from eleven to
eighteen months, and sometimes two years, according to the sub-
stance of the hide and discretion of the tanner. When taken
out of the pit to be dried, they are hung on poles; and after
being compressed by a steel pin, and beat out smooth by wooden
hammers called beetles, the operation is complete; and when
thoroughly dry, they are fit for sale. Butts are chiefly used for
the soles of stout shoes.

The leather which goes under the denomination of hides is ge-
nerally made from cow hides, or the lighter ox hides, which are
thus managed: After the horns arc taken off, and the hides
washed, they are put into a pit of water saturated with lime,
where they remain a few days, when they are taken out, and
the hair scraped off on a wooden beam, as before described ;
they are then washed in a pit or pool of water, and the looss

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COMMON OAK*

fesh, &c* being taken off* they are remoted Into a j
ooze, where they are taken up and put down (wbic
cally termed handling) two or three times a day f
week ; every second or third day they are shifted i
fresh ooze, somewhat stronger than the former ; til
of a month or six weekB they are put into a stro
which they are handled once or twice a week with
for two or three months. They are then removed i
pit called a layer, in which they are laid smooth,
ground very fine strewed between each hide. Aftc
here two or three months, they are generally taker
the ooze is drawn out, and the hides put in again
ooce and fresh bark ; where, after lying two or tl
more, they are completely tanned) except. a few
hides, which may require an extra layer t they arc
out, hung on poles, and being hammered and smc
eteei pin, are, when dry, fit for sale*

These hides are called crop hides ; they are from tet
months in tanning, and are used for the soles of sho
Skins is the general term for the skins of calves,
dogs, &c. These, after being washed in water, a
lime pits, as before mentioned, whore they are ta
put down every third or fourth day, for a fortni
weeks, in order to dilate the pores and dissolve tfi
parts of the skin. The hair is then scraped off, i
and excrescences being removed, they are put into a
impregnated with pigeon dung < called a grainer e
forming a strong alkaline ley, which in a week
soaking out the lime, grease, and saponaceous mai
which period they are several times scraped over wi<
knife to work out the dirt and filth), softens the ski
pares them for the reception of the ooze. They ;
into a pit of weak ooze, in the same manner as th
being frequently handled, are by degrees removed inl
and still stronger liquor for a month or bit weeks
are put into a very strong ooze, wfth fresh bark
fine, and at the end of two or three months, accor
•nbetance, are sufficiently tanned; when they arc
hung on poles, dried, and fit for sale.

These skins are afterwards dressed and blacked b;
and are used for the upper leathers of shoes, boots,

766 comicok oak*;

The lighter sort of hides, called dressing hides, as wdl m
horse hides, are managed nearly in the same manner as skis*,
and are used for coach. work, harness. work, &c

It has been said that every part of the oak tree contain a
great portion of astringent gummy-resinous matter, and wi
therefore tan leather as effectually as the bark itself. This opt
nion, which was first published in 1674 by the hoooanbk
Charles Howard (Phil. Trans, vol. ix.), has since been counte-
nanced by the celebrated Buffon ; who adds, that the bark of
birch will answer the purpose of tanning even sole leather,
which, it is well known, requires the strongest and most pene-
trating materials.

A long memoir, written by M. Gleditsch, recommend! fat
leaves, branches, fruit, and flowers, of a vast number of pMi
as substitutes for oak bark. Ueath dried and pulverized, gd
nuts, and the bark of birch, are said by M. Gesner to be wed
in different provinces of Germany. Abbe Nollet inform a,
that the leaves of myrrh are used by the tanners in Naples. Is
Corsica they make use of the leaves of wild laurel dried to tat
sun and beaten into powder, and in the island of St Kilda they
tan with the tormentil root. In son^ parts of Italy leathers
tanned with myrtle leaves. In Russia it is said that leathers
tanned with the bark of willow ; and it may here be observed,
that a late writer has recommended the extract of bark to be
made in America, in order to lessen the expense of freight, 4c.
in conveying the bark itself to Europe.

In the year 1765 the Society of Arts, &c. granted a premin
of ICO/, for the discovery of a method of tanning with oak aw-
dost; which method has been adopted in Germany: and the
Rev. Mr. Swaine has lately revived the exploded substitute (mea-
tionod by Gleditsch and others) of oak leaves.

Anthony Day, esq. of London, obtained a patent, dated 17ft
July 1790, for a new method of tanning, " with half the bet
in half the usual time." This plan chiefly consists in coocea.
trating the bark into a strong extract, and in some mechanical
improvements. in the construction of the tan-yard. But neither
the one nor the other has yet been adopted.

An ingenious manufacturer in London has, by the appficatios
of warm air, conveyed by means of flues from stoves properff
constructed, and by other contrivances not generally kaovt)
considerably abridged the usual process of tanning. Sooeew

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COMMON OAK.

perinea ts bave likewise been made with the bark
korse cbesnut 1

A substitute for oak bark, the price of which W
enormous, is the grand desideratum in the manufl
ther. Most of these above enumerated have hither!
ineffectual ; bat a patent, bearing date 16th Janua
been granted to Mr. Ashton, of Sheffield, Yorkt
discovery of a cheap and expeditions method of tat
This method chiefly consists in applying a preparatb
substances instead of oak bark. Those which, o
their cheapness, are roost to be preferred, are the I
pits, called sulphur stone or pyrites, and* the yellow
earth or red ochre ; and, in general, all astringent,
or vitriolated substances.

If this discovery, which is yet in its infancy, t
successful, it may cause a material alteration in
of this manufacture; and, by reducing the ex pens
mately be of great advantage to the public. Many
rimeots are now making in England for the imj:
tanning ; and as there are many persons of ingenuit
ledge engaged in the leather manufacture, much may
from their industry and skill.

The revenue arising from the duty on leather tarn

Britain (exclusive of oiled leather) i> upwards of %

anuum.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

The astringent effects of the oak were sufficient
the ancients, by whom different parts of the tree we
}t is the bark which is now directed for medicina
pharmacopoeias. To this tree we may also refer t
galls, which are produced from its leaves by means
insect.

Oak bark manifests to the taste a strong astringe
panied with a moderate bitterness, qualities which ;
both by water and by rectified spirit Its universal us
ence in the tanning of leather is a proof of its great
and like other astringents it hat been recommem
and for restraining hemorrhagica, alvine fluxes, ai
moderate evacuations. A decoction of it has like?
Yantageously employed as a gargle, and as a for
|ption in procidentia recti et uteri. Dr. Cullen teU

?68 CftMMO* OAst.

lias frequently employed the decoction with success ill flight tu-
mefactions of the mucous membrane of the fauces* and hi pre*
lapsus uvuhe, and cynanche tonsillaris, to which some people
are liable upon the least exposure to cgW : and in many cases
this decoction, early applied, has appeared useful in pretention
these disorders. It must be remarked, however, that the doctor
almost constantly added a portion of alum to these decoctions*

Some hare supposed that this bark is not less efficacious than
that of the cinchona, especially in the form of extract ; but tail
•pinion now obtains little credit, though there be no doubt that
oak bark may hare the power of curing intermittents.

Galls, which in the warm climate of the East are fonnd upon
the leaves of this tree, are occasioned by a small insect with fear
wings, called Cynips querci foln, which deposits an egg in tat
substance of the leaf, by making a small perforation through
the under surface* The ball presently begins to grow, and tat
egg in the centre of it changes to a worm ; this worm agaa
changes to a nymph, and the nymph to the flying insect anew
mentioned, which by eating its passage out leaves a round kolas
and those which have no holes are round to hare the dead insect
remaining in then).

Two sorts of galls are distinguished in the shops, one mid to
be brought from Aleppo, the other from the southern parti of
Europe* The former are generally Of a bluaish colour, or of 4
grayish, or black, verging to blueness, unequal and watery ea
the surface, hard to break, and of a close compact texture : the
others are of a light brownish or whitish colour, smooth, round,
easily broken, less compact, and of a much larger wait* Tht
two sorts differ only in strength, two of ih% blue galls being
supposed equivalent in this respect to three of the others.

Galls appear to be the most powerful of the vegetable astria*
gents, striking a deep black when mixed with a solution of far*
rum vitriolatum, and therefore preferred to tv&y other enustafeos
for the purpose of making ink. As a medicine, they are to bt
considered as applicable to the tame indications as the qoerd
cortex, and, by possessing a greater degree of astringent and
styptic power, seem to have an advantage over oak bark, and
to be better suited for external use. Reduced to fine powder
and made into an ointment, they have been fonnd of great sen
vice in hemorrhoidal affections. Their efficacy in tatermttna*
fevers was tried by Mr. Poupart, by order of the Academy ef
Sciences, and from his report it appears that the galls succeeded

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COMMON OAK.

in many cases; and also that they failed in man]
which were afterwards cured by the Peruvian bark
Nor are we to wonder at this difference, seeing t
has discovered a remarkable chemical difference bet
and nut galls, the latter precipitating tartrite of
infusion of cinchona, which are not acted upon bj

PRESCRIPTIONS.
Ifc. 1. Take of oak bark, in pieces - ounce -J

boiling water - . . a pint :

Let it remain for four' hours, then strain ; add to
Alum in powder - - - -. a drach
To be used as a lotion cold to limbs after the goul
scrophulous glands.

Jjt. 2. Take of galls, in powder - drachms 2
.—"— hog's. lard ... ounce 4
Make into an ointment, to be applied by means c
external piles, or even pressed somewhat up the fun<
night. This has done wonders in the piles, taking
time the following :
Ifc. 3. Take of quassia, in raspings - drachms

boiling water - - - pint

l*t it remain three hours,, strain :

To the strained liquor - . ounces
• Add, aromatic confection - - drachm

Ginger, in powder .... scruples
Take of this mixture two table-spoonsful at twel
every day.

HOW TO *AX,E ItfK.

A good and durable black ink may be made by t
directions :— .To two pints of water add three ounces
coloured rough-skinned Aleppo galls in gross poi
rasped logwood, green yitriol, and gum arabic, esu
This mixture is to be put into a convenient vessi
shaken four or five times a day, for ten or twelve
end of which time it will be fit for use ; though it '
by remaining longer on the ingredients. Vinega
water makes a deeper-coloured ink : but its action 0
spoils them.

*»

COMMON WALNUT TREE.

JUGLANS REGIA.

Class XXI. Moncecta. Order VI. Polyandria.
Eubvt. Gem. Cmak. Male flower— Garfyx one-leafed, scale-like: CWvfif

six-parted : Filaments eighteen : Female flower — Calyx four-cleft, above.

Corolla four-parted : Styles two : Drupe a furrowed nut.
Spec. Char. Leaves pinnated : Pinna oval, smooth, entire.

DESCRIPTION.
Thib is a large beautiful tree. Leares pinnated, coasbtiag of
several pair of opposite pinnae, with an odd one at the end
Flowers in April and May, and the fruit is ripe in September.

HISTORY.
This tree is a nati?e of Persia, but bears our climate wonder-
fully well, and produces abundance of a Yery exedlent fruit,

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COMMON WALfrUT TREE*

much eaten after dinner. The wood is very dural
a fine polish, and surpasses in beauty mahogany
wood. It is the only wood proper for gun stocks,
hard, and does not split.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
The different parts of the walnuts hare differea
and they differ according as they are mora or le
outer covering or husk, and the shell and peel of
are esteemed to be sudorific, especially if used bef
nuts are quite ripe ; and they have been boiled al
saparilla and guaiacma wood, in the preparation
used for removing venereal and rheumatic compla
expelling worms ; and it may be remarked, that n
the beautiful leaves of this tree, nor is the earth
near it An infusion of the shells thrown out
worms on which it falls. This liquor destroys ev
worm. The leaves have the same property. A
made of the walnut liquor, and gipsies dye thems
which proves very lasting. An oil is extracted fr
said also to destroy eren the tape-worm, and it is
olive oil, and, never freezing, is used by painters,
they bnrn it in their lamps.

How to pickle Walnuts.

Scald slightly, and rub off the first skin of a hunt
walnuts, before they have a hard shell : this may eas
tained by trying them with a pin. Put them in a
brine, put new brine the third and sixth dayB,' an
out and dry them on the ninth. Take an ounce
pepper, black pepper, ginger, and allspice; a qu
ounce of cloves, some blades of mace, and a table
mustard-seeds : bruise the whole together, put into i
of walnuts, strew them well over with the mixture,
in the same manner till all are covered. Then boil
of white wine vinegar, with sliced horse-radish and g
it hot over the walnuts, and cover close. Repeat
of the vinegar and pour it hot over, three or four d
keeping the pickle closely covered ; add at the last b
clores of garlic, or shalots. In five months they w
use.

3d S

COMMON WHITE LARCH,

PINUS LARIX.

Class XXI. Moncecia. Order IX. Monadelphia.
Ksubwt. Gen. Char. Male flower— Calyx four-leared: Corolla

Moment many: Anther* naked. Female flower — Cafyx

Scales two-lowered: Corolla none: PUtUone: rwit a nat, aaviag •

membranous wing.
Spec. Cbajl. J>aves» fascicled, deciduous: Cones ovate-oblong: Margins

of the Scales reflexed, jagged : Bracteas guitar-shaped.

DESCRIPTION.

J jus is a small and beautiful tree, whose branches are pendeaf,
with a whitish bark. The leaves are slender, soft, of a bright
green colour, and placed in bundles. The cones are upright,
small, ovate, covered with obtuse scales, from beneath which
the bracteas appear.

HISTORY.

It if a BAtivt of Switzerland and German j, flowering in March

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COMMON WHITE LARCH.

and April, and is much cultivated in England. T
pentiue issues spontaneously through the bark of
13 more commonly obtained by wounding the \
stance of about two feet from the ground, and insj
wound a small canula, through which the turpenj
proper i essels, which are placed for its reception*'
have different appellations, chiefly according to the
which they are procured.

Balsam of Canada, from the Pin us balsamea, <
nadensis.
Resina liquida Pini balsames. £• Balsam*
L. D.

Cyprian turpentine, from the Pistacia terebinth
Terebinthina Chia. L.

Strasburgh turpentine, from the Pinuspicca.

Venice turpentine, from the Pin us larix.

Resina liquida Pini laricis. E. Terebinthit

Common turpentine, from the Pinus sylvestris.
Terebinthina vulgaris. L. D.

Hungarian balsam, from the Pinus sylvestris^ va

Carpatian Dalsam, from the Pinus cembra.

None of these are properly balsams, which tern
fined to those resinous substances which contain
The Edinburgh college have denominated them I
the most correct appellation which they have yet re

All these species of turpentine possess the same
perties. They are more or less fluid, with diflere
transparency ; of a whitish or yellowish colour ;
smell, and a warm, pungent, bitterish taste. The]
soluble in alcohol, combine with fixed oil, and imj
vour to water ; but are not soluble in it They arc
by a moderate heat, being separated into an essen
resin, and are exceedingly inflammable, burning
white flame, and much smoke.

Each species has some peculiarities. The Cauai
oned the best, and next to it the Chian. They an
parent, and have a more agreeable flavour than the
The common turpentine, as being the most offens
given internally ; its principal use is in plasters a
among farriers, and for the distillation of the essen

774 oomitok wim laach.

MEDICAL USE.
Taken internally, they are active stimulants, open the bowds,
and increase the secretion of urine, to which they give the and
of violets, even though applied only externally. In all cases ac-
companied with inflammation they ought to be abstained fan,
as this symptom is increased, and not unfrequently occasioned,
by them. They are principally recommended in gleets, the flwr
albus, and the like. Their dose is from a scruple to a dradn
and a half. They are most commodiously taken in the form of
a bolus, or blended with watery liquors, by the mediation of tk
yolk of an egg, or mucilage. They may be also given in tk
form of electuary, mixed with twice their weight of honey, and
in the dose of a drachm of the compound twice or thrice a day,
or of clyster, half an ounce being well triturated with the yolk
of an egg9 and mixed with half a pound of gruel or decoction of
camomile. Wc are told by Dr. Cullen, that half an ounce or
an ounce of Venice turpentine, triturated with the yolk of an
egg, and diffused in water, may be employed in the form of aa
injection, as the most certain laxative in colics, and other cas*
of obstinate costiyeness. When turpentine is carried into the
blood-vessels, it stimulates the whole system ; hence ha use in
chronic rheumatism and paralysis. Turpentine readily passe
off by urine, which it imbues with a peculiar odour; also bf
perspiration, and probably by exhalation from the lungs : aad
to these respective effects are to be ascribed the virtues it may
possess in gravelly complaints, scurvy, and pulmonic disorder*.
In all these diseases, however, and especially the last, this me-
dicine, as well as some of the gums and balsams of the terebio-
thinate kind, by acting as stimulants, are often products of
mischief, as was first observed by Boerbaave, and since by F«*
thergill.

Turpentine has been much used in gleets and floor albas; ft
efficacy in the former of these disorders Dr. Cullen ascribes to
its inducing some degree of inflammation of the urethra; in proof
of which he says, " I have had some instances both of torpea.
tine and balsam of copaiva producing a manifest inflammatioa
in the urethra, to the degree of occasioning a suppression of
nrine ; but when these effects went off, the gleet, which had
subsisted for some time before, was entirely cured."

The essential oil, in which the virtues of turpentine reside, fe
not only preferred for external use, as a ruhifacicnt, &c bat

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SILVER FIR TREE,

PINUS PICEA.

Class XXI. Monoecia. Order IX. Monadelphia.
Essmrr. Gem. Chae. The same as the last.

Spec. Char. Leaves solitary, flat, above pointed, below evargisate:
Scales of the Cone obtuse, embracing.

DESCRIPTION.

A moderate sized tree. Leaves on the under side marked
with white lines, lying close, and so numerous as to conceal tie
stem. Cones long, when young possessing a membranous ap-
pendage, which drops off as they become matured.

HISTORY.
Native of Switzerland and Germany, and cultivated in this
country. Although the learned Dr. Woodville and several oiker
writers on the materia medica refer the common turpentine to
the Pinus sylvestris, and the Terebinthina argent onUensis or
Strasburg turpentine, to the silver fir tree} yet, upon the au-
thority of Murray, who follows Du Hamel and HaJler, we law

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NORWAY SPRUCE FIR TREE.

PINUS AfilES.

Oast XXI. Monoecia. Order IX. Monadefphia.
Emekt. Gbn . Chab. Same as the fiwt.

Spec. Crab, Leaves soliftaiy, nearly square, acute, dbticlMMS :
beneath naked : Cones cylindrical.

DESCRIPTION.

A small tree. Leares short, opon the older branches incline
in opposite directions. Cones cylindrical, dark-coloured.

HISTORY.

This tree is supposed to be natihre of Scotland, common in
" Norway, and flowers in May.

Upon an incision being made into the bark of this tree, a dear
tenacious fluid issues, which concretes into a resinous substance
known by the name of resina abietis. This, after being bofled
in water, and strained through a linen cloth, is called in the
Pharmacopoeias Pix burgundica, or Burgundy pitch. But if tat

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780 NORWAY SPRUCE FIR TREK.

impure, and mixed with bits of bark, dost, and and ; gaWpi^
when collected with more care; or white incense^ when it »
allowed to remain so long exposed that it becomes resiniied) ;
which is scraped oftj and also collected fpr subsequent puriiea-
tion.

All these products are panned by liquefaction and filtratiom.
They consist almost entirely of essential oil an4 a resin, and dif-
fer only in the proportions, the turpentine containing the largest
proportion of oil, and the gallipot of resin.

Although gallipot contains essential oil, the quantity is so
small, that it is never subjected to distillation, but is purifies*
by melting it with a Tcry gentle fire, and filtrating it. By tins
process it still contains essential oil, and is often sold by tfct
name of Burgundy pitch. If boiling water be added to it after
it is strained, but while it is still fluid, and they be agitated to-
gether till the mass cools, we hare a yellow resin, which, fresi
still containing some essential oil, is preferred to that prepares1
by a similar process from the residuum of the distillation of tar*
pen tine.

A simple mixture of gallipot and barras, made without heat, '
is often sold under the name of Burgundy pitch, but the man
resulting from this combination soon becomes friable. It an
neither the unctuosity, viscidity, tenacity, nor smell, which &.
ttinguish the real kind.

OFFICINAL PREPARATIONS.
Compound Burgundy Pitch Plaster. (Emplastrum Pica

Burgundies Compositum. L.)
Take of Burgundy pitch, two pounds ;

■ ladanum, one pouud ;

■ yellow resin,

, yellow wax*, of each four ounces ;

expressed oil of mace, one ounce :

To the pitch, resin, and wax, melted together, add first the la-
danum, and then the oil of mace.

Cummin Plaster. (Emplastrum Cumini. L.)
Take of cummin seeds,

■ caraway seeds,

, bay berries, of each three ounces ;

■ Burgundy pitch, three pounds;

■ yellow wat, three ounces :

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NORWAY SPRUCE FIB TREE.

Put thtf pitch and wax together, and mix with then
the ingredients, powdered, and make a plaster.

This plaster has been recommended as a mode
discutient, and is directed by some to be applied i
gastric region, for'strengthening the viscera and ex
lencies.

Aromatic Plaster. (Emplastrum Aromatici

Take of frankincense, three ounces ;
1 yellow wax, half an ounce ;

cinnamon, in powder, six drachms;

' essential oil of pimento,

1 essential oil of lemon, each two drachms

Melt the frankincense and the wax together, and s
getting stiff, from being allowed to cool, mix in ti
aad oils, and make a plaster.

Compound Ladanum Plaster. (Emplastrum I
positum. L.)

Take of ladanum, three ounces ;
■ fraukincense, one ounce ;
■ cinnamon, powdered,

■ expressed oil of mace, of each half an 01

-' esseutial oil of mint, one drachm : .

To the melted frankinceose add first the ladanum,
heat, then the oil of mace. Mix these afterwards i
namon and oil of mint, and beat them together, in i
tar, into a plaster. Let it be kept in a close vessel

This has been considered as a very elegant stor
It is contrived so as to be easily made occasional!;
kinds of compositions, on account of their volatile
are not fit for keeping,) and to be but moderately
as not to offend the skin, aud that it may, withe
be frequently renewed ; which these sorts of apj
order to their producing any considerable effect, ret

How to make Brown Spruce Beer.

Pour eight gallons of cold water into a barrel ; a
ing eight gallons more, put that in also: to this
pounds of molasses, with about half a pound of tl
spruce ; aud on its getting a little cooler, half a |
, ale yeast The whole being Well stirred, or rolled

782 NORWAY 8P1TTCB Tl* TRIR.

matt be left with the bang out for two or tbieedtjt; aAt
which the liquor nay bo iamodbtely bottled, woU corked is,
and packed id sawdust or sand, when k will be ripe, and lite
drink, m a fortnight*

Remember that it shooM be drawn off into quart stone tat-
tles, and wired.

How to make Whits Spruce Beck.

For a cask of six gallons, mix well together a quarter of a
pound of the purest essence of spruce, seren pounds at kef
sugar made into a clarified syrup, and about a gallon and a half
of hot water ; and, when sufficiently stirred and incorporated,
put it into the cask, and fiH up with cold water. Then add
about a quarter of a pint of good ale yeast, shake the cask well;
, and let it work for three or four days ; after which, bung it fa
In a few days it may be bottled off after the usual manner, ass*
in a week or ten days will be fit for use. If, on bunging it do*,
about a quarter of an ounce of isinglass, first dissolved in a fifth
of the warmed liquor, or in cyder, be stirred in, by war of
fining, it will acquire a superior degree of clearness, fo pro-
portion to the coldness of the weather, the quantity of yea*
should be increased. jSome, instead of yeast, use ale or beer
grounds the first time of making, and afterwards the groundirf
their former spruce beer. In warm weather, rery little femes*
is requisite*

How to make Spruce Wink,

For this, which is only a superior sort of white spruce beer,
proceed as follows : To every gallon of water take a poind asi
a half of honey, and half a pound of fine starch. The starck,
however, previously to its being blended with the honey, tip**
or syrup, must be reduced to a transparent jelly, by boQiagst
with part of the water purposely preserved* A quarter of *
pound of essence of spruce may be used to fire gallons of vster;
and the same method may be pursued in working, fining, asd
bottling, as directed above for the white spruce beer.

Spruce is a wholesome and pleasant drink to those who aft
used to it, and persons soon become habituated. Itconuaaja
vast quantity of fixed air, which is extremely bracing; andfe
use of this fiquor is particularly to be recommended to saca •
are troubled with scorbutic humours, or have the gravel. R*
chiefly used in the summer months.

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TC4 SCOTCH FIB* '

better than those made of hemp ; and die wood itself is sold is
the street* of Dublin by the name of bog- wood.

Though most species of fir possess in common the same nc-
dkinal properties, and all agree in affording the different pro.
ducts of the turpentine kind ; yet as it has been found that ms*
species produce these different articles of the materia media a
greater purity, or in more abundance than others, we bare sc
cordiogly assigned to each the respective article which it best
supplies. This tree not only furnishes most abundantly tk
Pixjiquida, or tar, fyut also from it may be obtained the ces-
mon turpentine, and the white and yellow resins.

OFFICINAL PREPARATIONS.
Tar Water* (Aqua Picis Iiqnidae. D.)

Take of tar, two pints ;

— i water, one gallon ;

Mix, by stirring them with a wooden rod for a quarter tf a
hour, and, after the tar has subsided, strain the liquor, trt
keep it in well-corked phials.

Tar water should have the colour of white wine, and a skip
empyreumatic taste. It is, in fact, a solution of empyitisstie
oil, effected by means of acetous acid. It was at one times**
extolled as a panacea, but has of late been little employed It
acts as a stimulant, raising the pulse, and increasing the discing*
by the skin and kidneys. It may be drunk to theextcotof*
pint or two in the course of a day.

All vegetables except mushrooms, if these be truly stick, wki
treated by distillation without addition, give out, in the first put
of the distillation,1 a quantity of acid, and continue togneott
more during the whole of the distillatiou. This acid is sonewW
different according as it is drawn from different vegetable!: M
that difference has not been ascertained; and we koowtka
even in chemistry, and more certainly in medicine, only by tk
common quality of acid.

This has been but little employed as a medicine, and **
hardly been remarkable but by its late use in the form of &
water. In making tar it is exhaled from vegetables whilst tkf
are burnt, in the same manner as in the distillation ahoresMS-
tioned ; and accordingly, in the making of tar, an acid vater*
found in considerable quantity in the same ditches that are pit-
pared for receiving the tar during the burning of the wood. 1'

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786 scotch m.

tfrcly is it is from the latter % and he also property rapports ft
by this, that any other pants of the tar Wafer which may he
found in it, unless 'carefully separated, are commtotfif fterjr
hurffal.

Upon the firtt introduction of tanr water some physicians 1
of opinion, that It derived part of its virtue from some oHy 1
tcr in its composition ; but it would not be dftBealt to show
that this, in many respects, is very improbable ; and that, spea
the contrary, the presence of these oils, as Mr. Held has par-
ticularly pointed out, h frequently pernicious. But, to super-
sede all controversy on this subject, 1 can assert from much ex-
perience, that the tar-water, as it abounds in acid, and »b mora
free frbm all oily matters, is the more effectual medicine : and I
haVe this clear proof of it, that When, instead of extracting As
acid by infusing the tar in water, I procured it by distillation
frdm solid fir Or other woods ; and, by talking 'Only the first part
of the distHI&tion, I obtained the acid as free as possible front
all oily matter. 1 found that by empldylng this acid as a medu
cine properly diluted with watdr, every Virtue appeared that was
ever found in any tar water. In this practice I found a parti-
cular advantage, as I could, by a proper rectification and <
centratioh, bring the acid iritoa imall bulk ; which 'being i
portable, is, on occasion of journeys or ether circumstances,
rendered Very convenient. 'But it Is 'very necessary to observe
here, that this acid, to be rendered a very useful remedy,
be alWays largely diluted with 'water; and how much the*
may favour its operation in every respect Will 'be Buffidebtry ob-
vious.

*f ar Ointment. (Unguentum Picls. L. D.}

Take of tar,

mutton suet, prepared, of each half a pound :

Melt them together, and strain :

Edm.

Take of tar, five parts ;

■ yellow wax, two parts :

These compositions cannot he considered as differing essea-
tially from each other. As far as they have any peculiar ac-
tivity, this entirely depends ou the tar. From the empyrean*.
tic oil and saline matters which it contains, it is undoubtedly ef
some activity. Accordingly, it has been successfully employed

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SCOTCH JtR.

•Agaipst some cutaneous afiections, particularly ti
fthk purpose a plaster is made and put over tl
Jbed-tiroe, and in three days after torn off with i
-extract the hair from the roots. The head mus
This must be last tried ; after the citron ointmeo
.trai.) applied at night, and washed off every m<
,and water, and afterwards bathed in vinegar, lw
(eaustic, where the disease is of small extent, i
cation.

An ointment of tar is directed in both Pharm
.has been chiefly employed in cutaneous disordi
says, " I have met with an empirical practice
.tar of a singular kind. A leg of mutton is lai
whilst it continues roasting, it is basted with ta
ter. Whilst the roasting goes on, a sharp ske*
.thrust into the substance of the mutton, to give
running out of the gra?y ; and with the mixtui
jrcavy to be; found in the dripping-pan, the body
ftf\ over for three or four nights successively, wh
time the same bocjy linen is to be worn. This
a remedy in several cases of lepra; and I have 1
at its .being employed in a lepra icthyosis wit
:but for reasons readily to be apprehended, I h;
,pof*tunJties of repeating the practice."

,We .shall now extract from the most splend
.Monograph, on the gen us. Pin us, (pine tree,) tha
from the press in this or any other country, th
.rived, from this expensive genus, as communicat
.Dent botanist A. B. Lambert, esq. by hi* lear
Maton and. Mr. Davis.

Yeixo.w Resin.

The mode of preparing this substance b mi
by the French author whose name we have me
He informs us, that the resinous juice is put int<
placed over a furnace, which last is usually con
mixture of clay, sand, and straw. Great care
aides of the furnace should adjoin close to the <
smoke%of the fuel should mix with that of the resi
without such a precaution, the heat of the furnac

• Dmbamel, torn, ii. p. 14ft.
3 E 2

788 . SCOTCH FIE.

tb set fire to the latter, and there would be a great risk of losing
the whole : as an additional safeguard, there is generally a vaulted
canal, four or five feet long, affiled to the mouths of the far.
nace, and terminated by a thick mud wall five or six feet n
height. When every thing has been thus prepared, a modenti
fire is kept up with very dry wood, and the juice boiled fife of
fix hours, the operators frequently stirring it about with a large
wooden ladle to prevent the impurities which sink to the bottoa
of the copper from taking fire, — a circumstance likely to occer,
it is said, without such a precaution. To ascertain whether the
resinous matter is sufficiently boiled, a small quantity of it b
taken out of the copper, and poured on a piece of wood; if,
when it becomes cold, it may be reduced to powder by beinj
pressed between the fingers, they know that the process is con*
plete, and then conduct it out of the copper into a large trosgt
similar to what is used for receiving the raw juice from the pits,
and placed in like manner on supports. It is necessary to filter
the decoction, which is done by pouring it hot dn some Jong
straw neatly stretched over wooden bars which form a kind of
horizontal grating; the* thickness of the straw filter is generaUv
four or five inches. The impurities and dregs remain on tst
iiUer, and the juice runs through it pure into the trough. Be-
fore the juice becomes cold and fixed, it is let through a hole it
the bottom of the trough into barrels, where it is suffered to
harden ; in this state it assumes a brown colour and a brittle
texture, and is called brai-sec, or rase. To convert it into yel-
low resin : instead of funning the hot juice at once into barrels,
an eighth part of fresh water is mixed with it in the trough* The
water is acted upon so briskly by the hot decoction, that tie
whole continues to boil an hour or two, and the resin, froa ft
brown colour, becomes at length of a fiue yellow. It is after-
wards deposited in barrels, and suffered to harden like the bra-
tec.

The yellow resin, as ordered by the London college, b tb*
result of a -different operation, but the properties of both these
substances are so extremely aLike, that they may be spoken of
under the same head : we shall therefore reserve our account of
them until we have described the mode of preparing the

Essential Oil.
The process for obiaininng this oil, as directed in the Loodoa

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i9tf idoictt iiu.

of turpentine, in more than one case of what is commonly calleff
sciatica, I hare actually witnessed considerable changes produced
*n it, and ascertained the pain about the hip to be mitigated ac-
cording to the increased presumption of altered action in Che
ureter. The efficacy of oleum terebintbiuae as a styptic has been
spoken of by some practitioners, but I have not' myself witnessed
any decided advantages produced by it; and, from having mack
more reason to confide in other medicines of that class, of late
1 have ceased to employ it ; though, in uterine discharges at-
tending cold, enfeebled habits, the more stimulative preparations
of turpentine may certainly be exhibited with more safety than
in the generality of diseases for which they are said to be calcu-
lated. As a diaphoretic, in rheumatic and gouty complaints,
there are not wanting authorities for the employment of this me-
dicine, but in modern practice it is rarely resorted to. Neither
have the solvent effects .which it has been said to produce (and
which seem to have been inferred only from what is known to
take place out of the body) on biliary calculi received much at-
tention in the present day. In Germany, Norway, and some
parts of the Russian empire, the essential oil of the pine is fre-
quently used as a remedy for lesions of tendons, and for braises
in general. In England, this remedy has repute principally
among farriers ; but the recommendations of authors so distin-
guished as Heister, Platner, and Plenck, certainly entitle it to
more frequent trial in chirurgical cases.

But the use of the oil of turpentine is not confined to medi-
cine. It is much employed by the painters for rendering their
colours more fluid ; and the concrete resins are usually dissolved
in it when they are to be converted into varnishes.

Common Resin

fs the residuum of the process for obtaining the essential o3.
This process, pushed as far as the nature of the substance wifl
admit of, changes the colour to a deep brown or black, when
the resin acquires the name of

Black Resin, oe Colophony.

The medicinal properties of these two kinds of resin are, of
course, extremely similar. They are rarely used internally ; btt
for external purposes (particularly as plasters) they can scarce)/
fce dispensed with, being remarkable for their adhesiveness, espe*

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SGOfCfl ?IR.

eially when mixed witfc other materia^ Being
essential oil, these resins do not produce the sa
effects as other preparation*, and ma/ be consid^
|og astringency without pungency.

Colophony is of considerable use in. the arts,
the composition of several varnishes^ and is ao
tilted for sandarach. jytusiciana rqb fjie bows
violins with it, in order to take off the more grea
veil at tp counteract humidity.

Tab.

This well-known substance, obtained from the i
parts of old pines by a sort pf distillatio per dei
from the native resinous juice in oaring acquircc
empyreumatic quality from the action of the fii
Mining the saline and mucilaginous parts of the t
$he extractive and the oily. The Scotch pine is t
which njo$t of the tar used in this country is proc
Jiaps yie|ds It equally good with its congeners,
remark how little the process employed in many c
from that which was followed by the antient Ma<
wf bich is circumstantially dcscribe4 by Theophrasi
pbapter of his ninth book, where he tells us that
placod erect beside one another, and that they v
covered with turf to prevent the flame from bur
which case tfce tar was lost The stacks were
aays, one hundred ao4 eighty cubits in circuuiferc
pr even one hundred, in height These huge h
being set on fire, the tar was made to flow from
pels cut for that purpose. As all the trees of t
fhe same substance when treated in a similar way,
tbai the antjeats did not confine themselves to o
obtaining it any more than the moderns^ and that
jvas occasioned in the product according to the dii
Went of the, Are, and in the cooling. Jleuce ar
sion, and the dJflfereo.ee of opinion among com
spectiog the terms Cedrfa, Cedradeo*, Pi$sa>le9n> &c
the most industrious collation of passages from
Pioscorides, Galen, and Pliuy, it jU scarcely p
day to refer to the precise substances which .they
to designate. IJuJ we shall .now proceed to point

H9t SCOTCH FIR.

of procuring tar which Duhamel states to hare been practised ia
the Valais, and which seems to be the best that has been adopted.
It is usual to cut down the pines intended to be burnt for the
extraction of tar, in the course of the summer. The operators,
knowing the quantity that will be wanted, regulate the extent of
the hewing and tearing up of die trees, so as that the materials
may be neither too green nor too dry at the time of preparing
their ovens, for to make good tar they should not be more
than half dry. As all parts of the pine (the trunk, brandies,
and even the bark) yield this substance, the branches are cut of
a length proportionate to the size of the oven, and the thicker
parts chopped into little billets similar to what are used in fag.
gots. The ovens are shaped like an egg placed on its smaller end,
and are composed of earth and stone, the floor being formed of
one or more pieces of freestone, which are very nicely joined
and hollowed like the inside of an egg-shell. On one side there
Is a hole about an inch and a half in diameter, and six inches ia
depth ; to the external orifice of this, and five or six inches higher
than the bottom of the oven, a gun-barrel of a large caliber is
affixed, and there is a large iron grate placed at the bottom of
the oven. The dimensions of the oven vary according to the
quantity of wood intended to be burnt, the largest bong about
ten feet high, ^ye or six feet in diameter in the middle, and two
feet and a half at the mouth or superior part. The waOs art
about a foot and a half in thickness. To about two- thirds of
the height these are constructed with freestone, but above that
with oven-earth. When the ovens are finished, and quite dry
and tight, bundles or faggots of the wood, tied up with hard
or vine rind, are set upright on the grating ; the ligature b cut
by means of a blade fixed at the end of a stick ; and the pieces
are spread about, the interstices being filled with chips. This
first layer being properly made, a second faggot is let down,
then a third, and so on until the oven is full, as high as the hand
can reach) when chips and shavings are laid on to the thickness
of three or four inches, and the mouth is covered np with fiat
stones piled one upon another so as to close all gaps except at
the centre, where an opening is left four or five inches in dia-
meter. All things being thus prepared, the chips at the top am
let on fire ; and the operators, who from experience are enabled
to ascertain when the materials are sufficiently kindled, seixe tot
proper time to shut up the mouth entirely with a flat stone ; and

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f 94 scotch nm.

of London and Edinburgh direct it to be made into an
(vngaentom picis); the former, by meaoi of the adniature of an
equal portion 0/ mutton suet, and the latter, of twelfths ofyoV
low wax. This ointment has been employed for the care of cu-
taneous affections, particularly those of domestic animals,
practitioners hare applied a plaster of tar for the cure of
Date cases of tinea capitis, and not without success; bat it is a
Tery painful, and almost a cruel remedy, for it cannot be taken
off without dragging out of the skin adhering to it the roots of
the hair, in the eradication of which, in fact, consists the only
use of the plaster.

Pitch,

The usual mode of making pitch consists in melting coarse
hard resin (or braisec, as it Is called in Prance) with an equal
quantity of tar, in large copper vessels similar to those used for
boiling the raw juice. If the tar be too thin, the proportion of
resin is increased ; and on the other hand, if it be thick, a third
part of tar is sufficient. Should the process of iospissation he
carried to its utmost limit, the pitch becomes quite hard and
dry, and is called in the shops pis arid* (the mora Ifap*, and
rfaAiprtrva of the Greek writers), which is less pungent and less
bitter than the common tar, and Is used only in some external
applications, as an adhesive substance agreeing in its medicinal
virtues with the common digestives.

When melted with oils, resins, and fats, into ointments and
plasters, pitch is said to be very apt to separate and precipitate.
Dioscorides describes the best pitch as being shining, odorous,
gummy, and of a reddish black colour, which were the quafitiet
of the Lycian and Calabriaa pitch. It was prescribed by aha,
and also by Celsus, as a proper ingredient In plasters for maturing
abscesses and healing wounds.

Fitch was mnch employed by the antlants for giving flavour
and fragrance to their wines, which were also supposed to acquire
from it useful medicinal properties, as we have before remarked,
when speaking of the properties of tereblntaftnate substances ia
general* Their mode of pitching casks and other vessels is da.
scribed by Columella. We are told by Pliny of a preparation of
tar with vinegar, called brutia, which was employed for the same
purposes ; and this author says that It was usual to sprinkle tht
irst ferment of new wine, or mustum, with powdered resin.

In boiling down tar to dryness without addition, there com*

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SCOTCH FIR.

#?er an ackf ffquor ia considerable quantity, and
oil, which seems to differ from the off of tprpenl
i mpregna ted with an erapyreumatic qualify ; it '
ancients o/euift pidnum. The medicinal proper*
similar to those of tar.

The extensive use of pitch and tar in ship bo
It n own to require particular mention. A mixto
Wat, by which crevices in vessels are rendered
trater, was called by the antients Zantunra, ; an
after it had been some time steeped in the sea,
cinafly as a resolvent. Blended with a ccrtaii
and suet, pitch becomes an useful article to th<
waxing their threads, and with whale fat it form
-which wheels of carriages are smeared over.
of luting, also, this article possesses considerai
familiar to most mechanic* and handicraftsmen*

Lamp-black.

Any species of pine may be used for making
the general practice is to convert the impurities
cipltation of tar and pitch to this purpose. Th
in (Germany is thus described by Axtius, who
by Duhamel, and it is Illustrated in the works <
thors by engravings. A sort of box is made,
every part, with the exception of some holes ii
are covered, however, with a sort of linen c
distance from the box a furnace is constructed,
mouth, and the inferior part communicating \
the box by a horizontal chimney. Into this
the dregs and coarser parts left in the preparati
proportion* to the consumption of these a supp
as to furnish a constant draught of smoke tc
smoke goes chiefly into the cone, where it d<
partq in the form of soot, which, when beaten <
by sticks applied on the outside, is collected fro
of the box and put into barrels.

Lamp-black is employed almost exclusively
dyeing in the present day, but it was formerly
tute for the fuligo thuris, which is mentioned b
Celsus as a resolvent and digestive, and formct
some of their plasters. The first of these au

796 • SCOTCH FIR* • '

process for obtaining latpp-black literally by means of a lamp,
and attributes to it astringent properties (especially io ichorous
discharges from the eyes) as well as a remarkable efficacy in
promoting the growth of hair on the eye-brows. Galea also
adverts to the same remedy in his account of the fuliginous sub-
Stances prepared from different kinds of resin. There k a tine
tura fuliginis retained in the Edinburgh Pharmacopeia; this is
exhibited internally as an aotihysteric, but rarely trusted to
alone, being found most efficacious when combined with
fcetida or other medicines of that class, to all of which it i
to be far inferior. It is directed to be prepared from wood soot,
without any particular tree being specified as preferable for this
purpose to another.

Bark Bread.
We are informed by Linnaeus that the Laplanders eat, daring
a great part of the winter, and sometimes even during the whole
year, a preparation of the inner bark of the pine, which is called
among these people lark-lroed. This substance is made in the
following manner, viz. : After a selection of the tallest and least
ramose trees, (for the dwarf branching ones contain too great a
quantity of resinous juice,) the dry and scaly external bark is
carefully taken off, .and the soft, white, fibrous, and succulent
matter collected and dried. The time of the year chosen for
this process is when the alburnum is soft and spontaneously se-
parates from the wood by very gentle pulling, otherwise too
much labour would be required. When the natives are about
to convert it to use, it is slowly baked on the coals, and being
thus rendered more porous and hard, is then ground into pow-
der, which is kneaded with water into cakes and baked in an
oven.

The Siberian ermine-hunters, when their ferment or yeast
which they carry with them to make their quass, is spoiled Jby
the cold, digest the inner bark of the pine with water over the
fire during an hour, mix it with their rye-meal, bury the dough
in the snow, and after twelve hours find the ferment ready pre-
pared in the subsiding fasces.

THE MUGHO PINE.
Liquid Resin.
This resin spontaneously exudes from the extremities of the
branches, and from other parts of the tree, and may also b«

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SCOTCH FIR.

obtained, by expression, from the green cones,
as a medicine originated /rom a manuscript accc
I>r. Christian ab Hortis, of Kasmark, if ho extol
in the cure of wounds, running ulcers, contusioni
palsies, and even of the gout. Various other c
iaid to be cured by it; and it afterwards received
ttons of Fischer, Breynius, and Bruckmann, the
considered it not inferior to the balsam of Mecca.
thi9 balsam still retains high repute, but there cs
that its medicinal virtues have been much exagger;

Essential Oil.

This essential oil is obtained by distillation froi
juice just described. The common oil of turp
substituted for it by the itinerant druggists in Ger
genuine sort may be distinguished by its golden c
ble odour, and acrid oiliness of taste*

As a medicine this oil is a popular remedy at
the cure of intermittents, being taken, in the dose <
just at the commencement of the cold stage. It
punctures of tendons, and by farriers as an appl
ulcers of cattle.

THE STONE PINE.

• Ke&nels.

These kernels have a subacid, sweet taste, aim
almonds, and, like the latter, may be used for em
as for dissolving resins. They possess a nutritive i
quality, but, from their oily nature, soon becoit
unfit to be eaten. Dioscorides speaks of their util
and it is probable enough that they act as expectc
degree ; in the present day, however, they are ra
cept at the table.

The Siberian stone pine (P. cembta) yields nu
kind as these, which are therefore applicable to
poses, bnt their oily contents, when exposed to t
fest a still stronger disposition to acquire rancidity

The proportion of oil in the kernels of these
perhaps, than in those of any other tree, one i
yielding five ounces, whereas the same quantity c
duces only two ounces and* a half. Rhaze spea
having a tendency to relieve obstructed kidneys ; a
Hot improbable, and well deserving of being put

798 scowm fit.

experience, if it ware only for Ac sake of sabstitauag *M
would be so much more agreeable io the palate than the cav
moo turpentines.

Copy 0/ a Letter to A. B. Lambert, Esq. from Mr. Tkmts
Davis, of Hommingsham, Wilts, relative to the Timber ykM
by various Species of Pines*

HommingBhmm, Sept 9, 179T.
Dear Sir, I anv convinced, from repeated observ atious, last
the Scotch fir produces the deal called in London yellow deal,
and in the country red/deal, and being generally imported froo
Christiana, sometimes called Christiana deal. They freqoesdr
come hither in planks, but oftener in boards, called twain
inches wide, though seldom above ten inches and a half, est
through and through, or, as the sawyers col Lit, cut JUtok. Of
course the trees are not above twelve inches diameter, and yet
I have counted their rings, and found their growth to befren
sixty to a hundred years. They most therefore grow thick to-
gether, and upon poor or rooky land, and this is also tribal
by the small n ess of the knots, proceeding from the wantef roen
to push • out strong boughs*

The Scotch fir raised in England is equal to theforesjak
weight and durability, but is seldom so fine in the grain, sai
has a greater quantity of sap owing to its rapid growth, occa-
sioned eil' or by the superior strength of the land, or gnats
distance from one another, or both. But the quality » **£*
ciently similar to ascertain that they are the same species.

A foot square of Scotch fir, English grown, and niodeiatdf
dry, will weigh fifty*one; a foot of oak not mack more tan
aixty-aae.

A ttree of a hundred years old (I lookapontke ultiautaa
of its growth in England as not more than a hundred and fifty)
may measure four load,, or two hundred feet, and is fairly woni
fifteen pounds.

1 Land planted. with Scotch firs eight feet and a quarter apait,
viz. six hundred .and forty to. an acre, will, pay ten per oat
compound interest, supposing very poo* land at three shilling*
per acre, worth about four pounds in fee, and the plaaoeg a
cost six pounds mare, in all ten pounds per acre. Id twealf-
eight years ten .pounds, at'compduud interest, will be fort/
pounds, and in that period the trees, at only two and sixaeaa
each, will: ha warthaifhty pounds.

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SCOTCH FIR.

Spruce firs, from which Hie deal we <is*a% cd
England is produced, are .perhaps the next valuabli
and, what is remarkable, those grown <ia England
an j imported. That kind of tree not being hart 1
better for rapid growth, and the deal the handsome
not grow well in exposed situations. It there i
branches, and not growing from leaders as a 1
gets mossy, lingers, and dies : and if put close toj
vises to any sis*. Perhaps it may be two or thi
feuodred years, worth seven or eight pounds, 1
years seem to be the full ultimatum of its growth
fit Tor nothing but a*garden, where it is a pteity th
or thirty years, when it grows naked, and Bhot
and replaced by others.

The silver fir, the most beautiful in external ap
the genus, either young or old, grows much fas
4he Scotch orsjiroce. At one-hundred years old
above a hundred feet high, twerve or thirteen f<
contains at least six loads of Umber, worth about
The timber is more open, or, as the sawyers cat
its grain, than the spruce, occasioned partly by th
urianec of its growth, and therefore should be
scantlings, where its strength and toughness rend<
wood, particularly for beams ; only great care i
that the ends are dry, and accessible to air.

Tfife Wcymoiith pine is a white pine, but st
roacher in the grain than the preceding sorts. If
in its own country (America) is for masts of shi
its toughness makes it proper. It will, if pfcu
land well sheltered, get to four or fire load in a
worth eight or ten pounds.

Larch is a delicate coloured wood, not unlike
for black lead pencils, cither in colour or sou
little sap, and is convertible to flooring board a
but its knots are then rather unsightly. We Y
kingdom of a large size, and I have observed I
become mossy about forty years old* They gn
tered situations. However, it is a valaaale and
wood, either standiog or converted.

It is a mistake to suppose that fir trees should
•am, because, (as they say) the sap, which is tn

800 SCOTCH FItf.

afloat ; they should always be cut when the sap is stagnant, tk.
in winter; Fir cut in the summer will become full of mush-
rooms in a twelvemonth afterwards. I hare tried this fre-
quently, and paid dearly for my experience.

Places of Growth.

1. Scotch fir. Mountainous rocky situations, shelter not ne»
cessary.

2. Spruce. Gardens and lawns, where it can hare room to
spread its lower branches horizontally, and is not wanted to
stand above forty years.

3. Silver fir. Strong lands, fit for oak ; rather sheltered ; but
shelter not indispensable.

4. Larch. Sheltered situations on the sides of hills; land
sandy, if possible, though poor. It does not like cold wet
land.

I omit the balm of Gilead fir, as we have had none grown to
an age sufficient for determining its rise a» timber. It seems to
be .very like the silver fir in quality.

I hope, sir, you will find something in these remarks worthy
your notice, as they are the result of the experience of abort
thirty years, from the seed to the great tree.

I am, Sir, your Tery humble servant,

Thomas Davis.

Extract from the Rev. William Coxe's Travels in Poland, Russia,
Sweden, and Denmark, on the Subject of Christiana Deal.

The planks and deals are of superior estimation to those
pent from America, Russia, and from the different parts of the
Baltic, because the trees grow on the rocks, and are therefore
firmer, more compact, and less liable to rot than the others,
which chiefly shoot from a sandy or loamy soil. The planks are
either red or white fir, or pine. The red wood is produced from
the Scotch fir, and the white wood, which is in such high esti-
mation, from the spruce fir. This wood is the most demanded,
because no country produces it in such quantities as this part of
Norway, Each tree yields three pieces of timber, eleven or
twelve feet in length, and is usually sawed into three planks ; a
tree generally requires seventy or eighty years growth before it
arrives at the greatest perfection.

The environs of Christiana not yielding sufficient planks for

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SCOTCH FIR.

exportation, the greater part of the timber is ht
country, and floated down the ri?ers and catai
are used for the purpose of cutting the planks, 1
▼ileged, and can only cut a certain quantity.
are bound to declare on oath that they have n<
quantity ; and if they do, the privilege is taken
saw-mill destroyed. There are one hundred aq
vileged saw-mills at Christiana, of which one hai
the family of Anker. The quantity of planks
cut amounts to 20,000,000 standard deals, twelrt
one inch and a quarter thick."

"In Scotland they distinguish the wood cnt in ti
from that obtained in plantations, by calling the f
fir, and the latter park fir. The Highland fir is
on account of its greater durability, being frequc
decayed in ancient buildings, when the other i
-wasted. This striking difference in the same spec
to be attributed to the mountainous and rock
which the native timber is found, and where the
slower growth, the wood is consequently of a li
the latter may be readily distinguished from that
by its much deeper yellow colour."

3 r

COMMON PALMA CHRISTI.

RICINUS COMMUNIS.

Class XXI. Moncecia. Order IX. Monadelphia.
Ebsent. Gen. Char. Male flower — Calyx five-parted: Corolla no§e:

Stamina numerous. Female flower — Calyx three-parted : Corolla nooti

Styles three, bifid : Capsule three-celled : Seed one.
Spec. Char. . Leaves peltate, subpalmate, serrate*

DESCRIPTION.

1 his plant grows eight or ten feet in height. The leaves are
large, and deeply divided into lobes, or pointed segments, on
long footstalks, contrary to what is usual, unless the plant if
nodding ; the female flowers are on the upper part of the spike,
and produce a three-celled nut, covered wRh tough spines con-
taining three seeds.

HISTORY.
This plant grows in both Indies, Africa, and the sooth d
Europe. It is of Speedy growth, and in one year arrives at Hi

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COMMON PALMA CHIUSTI.

fall height, which seldom exceeds twenty feet*
are prickly and triangular, and contain, nndei
gray, and black-marbled husk, a white oily ken
is extremely acrid ; and one or two of the seeds
tire operate as a drastic purgative or emetic. i

The kernels yield almost a fourth part of tha
bland fixed oil, commonly called castor oil. It is
(hem either by expression, or by decoction witl
former method is practised in%Europe, the latK
To increase the product, it is common to parch t
the fire before the oil is extracted from them ; b»
obtained is inferior to that prepared by cold ex pre*
decoction, and is apt to become rancid. Genuio
thick and viscid, of a whitish colour, insipid or s
taste, and without smell.

MEDICAL USE.

As a medicine, it is a gentle and useful purgal
neral produces its effects without griping, and may
safety where acrid purgatives are improper, as in c<
after childbirth, &c. : some likewise use it as a purgi
cases. Half an ounce or an ounce commonly ansi
adult, and a drachm or two with an infant.

The aversion to swallowing oil is generally consk
fcrent modes of overcoming this have been prop
prefer taking it swimming on a glass of water, 01
water, or in coffee stirred ronnd, others in the form
si on, with mucilage, or with the addition of a little

Dr. Cullen observes that " this oil, when the st<
reconciled to k, is one of the most agreeable purga
/ employ. It has this particular advantage, that it op
after its exhibition than any other purgative I kr
commonly operates in two or three hoars. It seld<
griping, and its operation is generally moderate, c
three stools only. It is particularly suited to case
ness, and even to cases of spasmodic colic. In t
dies it is found to be one of the most certain remedi
belly -ach, or colica pictonum. I have never found
irritating to the rectum, and therefore have found i
well suited to hemorrhoidal persons. The only ir
attending the use of this medicine is, that as an oil ii

3f2

804 COMMON PALMA CHBISTI.

to some persons'; and tbatj when the dose is large, it
sickness at the stomach for some time after it is taken. To
obviate these inconveniences, several means have been tried;
but I shall not detail these here, as I can assert, that the mo*
effectual means is the addition of a little ardent spirit For ttii
in the West Indies they employ rum ; but that I might not with-
draw any part of the purgative, I employ the tinctgra seam
composita. This, added in the proportion of one to three parti
of the oil, and very intimately mixed by their being shaken to-
gether in a phial, both makes the oil less nauseous to the taste,
and makes it sit more easy on the stomach. The common dost
of this oil is a table-spoonful, or half an ounce ; but many per-
sons require a douMe quantity. But it is particularly to be oh*
served of this medicine, that if it be frequently repeated, tat
dose of it may be more and more diminished. And I know in-
stances of persons who, formerly of a costive habit, at first re-
quired half an ounce or more for a dose ; but after being fre-
quently repeated, they now find that two drachms are enough,
at least to keep the belly regular."

PRESCRIPTIONS.

Ifc. 1. Take of castor oil - drachms 4,

■ the yolk of one egg ;
Accurately mix them together ; add

Cinnamon water - . ounce ]£:
Make into a draught, to be taken immediately.
This is a useful and pleasant purge.
fy.%, Take of castor oil • ounces 2,

■ one egg ;

Mix them well, and then add •

Gruel ..... ounces 8 :
For a glyster, which will operate very kindly, and is snppotsi
to be efficacious in worms*

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CASCARILLA,

WILLOW-LEAVED CROT

CROTON CASCARILLA

Class XXI. Moncecia. Order IX. Monadel]

£sscwt. Gem. Char. Male flower— Calyx cylindrical, i

rolla five-petalled. Female flower — Calyx many-leave

Style* three, bifld : Capsule three-celled : Seed one.

Spec. Cha*. Leave* lanceolate, acute, entire, petioled,

tote : 8tem arboreous.

DESCRIPTION.

A moderate sized shrub. Bark white. Leares
entire, pointed, on very short footstalks, above i
beneath downy, and of a silvery whiteness. T
small and inconspicuous, in terminal spikes.

806 CASCAHILLA.

HISTORY.

The bark is imported into Europe from the Bahama islands,
and particularly from one of them of the name of Elentheris,
from which its trivial' name is derived. But Dr. Wright also
found the tree on the sea shore in Jamaica, where it is common,
and rises to about twenty feet in height. It is the Clutia ekn*
teria of Linn as us ; the bark of whose Croton cascarilia has none
of the sensible qualities of the cascarilia of the shops.

This bark is in general imported either in curled pieces or
rolled up into short quills, about an wcn m w*dth, somewhat re*
scmbling in appearance the Peruvian bark. Its fracture is smooth,
and close, of a dark brown colour. It is covered with a rough,
whitish epidermis ; and in the inside it is of a brownish cast.

It has a light agreeable smell, and a moderately bitter taste,
with some aromatic warmth. It burns readily, and yields, whea
burning, a very fragrant smell, resembling that of musk ; a pro*
perty which distinguishes the cascarilia from all other barks.

Its active constituents are aromatic volatile oil and bitter ex-
tractive. Its virtues are partially extracted by water, and to-
tally by alcohol ; but it is most effectual when given in sab-
stance.

MEDICAL USE.

It produces a sense of heat, and excites the action of the sto-
mach ; and it is therefore a good and pleasant stomachic, and
may be employed with advantage in flatulent colics, internal
haemorrhagies, dysenteries, diarrhoeas, and similar disorders.

As the essential oil is dissipated in making the extract, this
only acts as a simple bitter.

Cascarilia, or eleutheria bark, is truly a hot, acrid, aromatic
bitter, resembling in appearance the Peruvian bark, but is more
bitter and pungent, though not so rough and astringent. It has
been used as a febrifuge for stopping agues, in the same way as
the Peruvian bark, and is much used in such cases among the
Germans. It has been given A. D. 1794 and 1795, by doctor
Apinns, of AJtorf, with success, in remitting and petechial fe-
vers : it generally sweated the patients plentifully, and kept the
belly open, giving those whom it did not sweat three or four
stools in the day. And in the year 1719 it was found to be of
service in an epidemic dysentery which raged at Paris, and had
had not yielded to ipecacuanha ; and afterwards was found to
produce like good effects when administered by Degentrw fo

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CASCARILLA.

people labouring under the dysentery in Holl
present much used in this country, though
New Dispensatory, says that it deserves to 1
than it is at present. Dose from ten grains to
more.

OFFICINAL PREPARATIO

Tincture of Cascaeilla. (Tinctura Casi
Take of the bark of cascarilla, powdered, f<
■ proof spirit, two pints :

Digest with a gentle heat for seven days, and s
This is a fine stimulating medicine, and exc<

or after that disease to give to the stomach tone

dose is two drachms four times a day, in some c

mon water.

Resinous Extract of Cascarilla. (Extr
Resinosam. D.)
Take of cascarilla, in coarse powder, one p<

rectified spirit of wine, four pints :

Digest for four days, then pour off the tincture,
the residuum, in ten pints of water, to two :
tered decoction, and distil the tincture, in a
begin to grow thick ; then mix them, and eva
state fit for making pills. Lastly, they are
mixed. The dose of this from ten grains to hal

PRESCRIPTIONS.
fy. 1. Take of the tincture of cascarilla dn

■ vitriolic ether . - - dr<

■ cinnamon water,

■ simple peppermint water,

of each, equal parts - - - ow
Make into a draught, to be taken three times
cellent stomachic.

JJ. 2. Take of cascarilla, reduced to a coars<

camomile flowers,

aniseed, of each, equal parts

Put some hot cinders in a shovel, sprinkle this
and fumigate the chambers of the sick. It tain
does not keep off infection.

INDIAN RUBBER.

SIPHOJVIA ELASTICA.

Clou XXI. Moncecia. Order IX. Monadelphia.
Essmrr. Gaw. Char. Male flower— Calyx globoso-campanolaie, teni*
quioquefid : Corolla none : Anthers five, coalescing. Female flower—
Calyx five-cleft, patent, solitary, terminating In a yuceme : Corolla noae:
Style none t Stigmata three : Capsule three-celled, woody, very hard.
Spec. Char. Loaves ternate, elliptic, entire, petioled.

— >

DESCRIPTION.
A lahge tree, growing fifty or sixty feet Leaves on tbt
underside whitish. Flowers very inconspicuous, terminal.
HISTORY.
This tree is native of South America, grows abundant in tbt
province of Quito, and along the borders of the river Amazons,
in the kingdom of Mexico. Our Indian rubber, as it is called,
is from the juice of this tree.

MEDICAL USE.
It is dissolved in ether, and then made into various snigkal
instruments by evaporation, and coating gold wire becomes aa
excellent metallic elastic bougie. The Indians make boots of it,
and burn it for candles and flambeaux, which produce a clear
dazzling light without smoke.

_M»*A-^M

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WILD or SQUIRTING CUCU

MOMORDICA ELATERIU

Class XXI. Moncecia. Order X. Syngenesi
Emeivt. Gem. Char. Male flower— Calyx five-cleft : Cor
Filament* three : Female flower— Calyx five-cleft: Cor
Styles trifid : Fruit a pome bursting elastically.
Spec. Char. Pome hispid: Cirrhi none.

DESCRIPTION.
T his trails like the common cucumber. Leaves
slightly sinuated, veined, rough, reticulate, upc
stalks. Flower from the axillae of the leaves, of a 1
reticulated with green veins. Gormen beneath the
rolla, conspicuous, terminated in a pome divided in
containing many flat seeds, which when ripe upon
spirts the seeds covered with juice into jour fa*
not on jour guard.

HISTORY.

Native of the south of Europe, and flowers in J

MEDICAL VIRTUES.
Since the time of Gerard the wild cucumber has 1
^cultivated in this country for medical use : all tb

810 WILD OR SQUIRTIIfG* CUCUMBER.

plant arc bitter, and strongly purgatire*; but the dried joke,
or feculae of the fruit, known in the shops by the name of ebv
terium, is the only part now medicinally employed, and hat
been distinguished into white and black elaterium: the first*
prepared from the juice, which issues spontaneously, and the
latter from that which is obtained by expression +.

Mr. Dick, surgeon to the artillery, in the tenth Tolame of
the Edinburgh Medical Commentaries, tells us, that being in tk
Carnatic, with 300 men, who had been sent from Bengal, maaj
of them Were attacked with a dropsical disorder, for which he
ordered them some of the common purging medicines ; but then
producing no good effects, he had recourse to the elaterima
mixed with extract of gentian, which he made up into puis,
containing a quarter of a grain of elaterium each ; he began vim
ordering one of these to be taken every hour till they operated;
but finding that they often produced more violent effects thai
he intended, he ordered them to be taken only once in two
hours tilt they had the desired effect. These pills sometimes oc-
casioned a Tomiting, always a nausea, and often a griping; and
discharged Such quantities of water both by stool and by urine,
and gave such relief to the patients, that he could hardly prerai
with them to take any other medicine on the intermediate days.
Finding success from this practice, he repeated the pills eierj
third or fourth day, till all the swelkags were gone, and then
had recourse to corroborants to complete the cure.

OFFICINAL PREPARATION.

Inspissated Juice of the Wild Cucumber. Eulthuc*.
(Succus S pis sat us Momordicae £Iaterii, vulgo Elaterium. &
Elaterium. L.)

Slice ripe wild cucumbers, express the juice Tery geatly, asd
strain it through a very fine hair sieve (into a glass vessel, L);
then boil it a little, and set it by for some hours, until tk*
thicker part has subsided. The thinner supernatant fluid is to
be poured off, and separated by filtering ; and the thicker part,

* IUdiciim. vfc cathartica major est quam falionw, manor vero es
fro ctuum.— Geoff.

+ This drug was formerly prepared in several different ways, a rire«
stance necessary to be attended to in the history of its medicinal eiecla

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WILD OR SQUIRTING CUCUMBEI

which remains after filtration, is to be covered wit
and dried with a gentle heat.

Elaterium. (Elaterium. D.)

Slice ripe wild cucumbers^ express the juice re
strain it through a very fine hair sieve into a glass
set it aside for some hours, until the thicker part
jeet the supernatant liquor, and dry the feculum,
covered with a linen cloth.

This is not properly an inspissated juice, bu
from the expressed juice. Such depositions have U
fee u la, and the denomination has been confirm
times. Its application, however, appears to us
tended ; for fecula is applied both to mild and i
stances, such as starch, and to drastic substances
of which we are now treating. Besides, if it poi
the same chemical properties as starch, it would
into a gelatinous mass by the boiling directed by i
college, and would not separate ; whereas the boil i
to promote the separation.

Common filtration through paper does not succ
grosser parts of the juice falling to the bottom forn
upon the paper, which the liquid cannot pass ti
separation is to be effected by draining the fluid
by placing one end of some moistened strips of \
skeins of cotton, or the like, in the juice, and laj
end over the edge of the vessel, so as to hang dov
the surface of the liquor.

MEDICAL USE.
Elaterium is a very violent hydragogue cathari
ral, previous to its operation, it excites consideral
the stomach, and frequently produces severe vo
therefore seldom employed till other remedies have
vain. But in some instances of ascites it will pr
plete evacuation of water, where other cathartic
effect. Two or three grains arc, in general, a s
although perhaps the best mode of exhibiting it
only to the extent of half a grain at a time, and i
dose every Jtpur till it begins to operate.

BITTER CUCUMBER,

COLOQUINTIDA.

CUCUMIS COLOCTNTHIS.

Class XXI. MoncRcia. Order X. Syngenesis.

EiSEirr, Gew. Char. Male flower— Calyx five-toothed : Corolk fa*
parted: Filament* three: Female flower — Calyx five-toothed: &«*
five-parted : Pistil trifid : Pome containing sharp seeds.

Spec. Char. Leaves mnltifid : Pome globular, smooth.

DESCRIPTION.
Stem trails, covered with hairs. Leaves variously sinaated,
hairy, upper surface a bright green, beneath rough and hsirjr.
Flowers single, from the alae of the leaves, yellow, belUl«Hi
cut into fire segments, tendrilied.

HISTORY.
Coloquintida, or bitter apple, is the product of a plant of tie
gourd kind, growing in America, Egypt, Persia, Turkej, *»*
most of these eastern countries. The pulp, which is the part

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BITTER CUCUMBER,' OR COLOQUIN

»ade use of, is a nauseous, bitter, acrid purge,
eipally of earthy, gummous, and resinous parts
taifling about half an ounce of gummous or m
four scruples of resinous principles, according
experiments; who says that both the gummo
parts are purgative, but the resinous the sti
Geoffiroy alleges, that the resinous parts occas
gripes, but that a gummous extract is more pur,

Mr. Boulduc got with water, from eight ounc
ounces of a gummous extract ; and from a like <
only half an ounce of resin with spirit.

Colocynth irritates violently ; if given in larg
it often produces bloody stools, and is said sc
inflamed and ulcerated the intestines ; and to 1
aioned convulsions and death ; insomuch that m
upon it as a dangerous medicine.

The dose is from four to ten grains ; but it is
exhibited by itself, being commonly mixed wi
medicines, as in the old pilule ex colocynthi
which are very strong purgatives made of colo
mony, each two ounces ; oil of cloves, two draci
of buckthorn, q. s.; given from fifteen grains U
as were likewise the pilulae ex colocynthide cum
two ounces of socotrine aloes, and as much scami
of the pith of the colocynth ; two drachms o
and as much syrup of buckthorn as made the
mass, which are milder, and given from a sc
drachm.

The colocynth was likewise an ingredient it
catharticum, which was- made by mixing six d
cynth, and half an ounce of lesser cardamoms hi
had been bruised, with one pint of proof spir
gesting them with a gentle heat for four days;
by straining and pressing out the tincture, anc
an ounce and a half of socotrine aloes, and h
scammony, which had been previously reduced
der; and drawing off the spirit, and inspissatin
mass to a pilular consistence. The common dos
is from five grains to twenty. It is a very brisk
.cathartic; and joined to mercurius dulcis will
passage through the bowels after other medicines

'$14 BITTEtt CUCUMBER, OH COLOQUlNTIDA.

without effect I hare frequently ordered a scruple of tins et*
tract, and as much mercurius dulcis sublimatus, to be made n>
Into eight pills with syrup, and directed patients who seemed It
be in the most imminent danger for want of stools, to takefovr
of these pills immediately, and afterwards two of these etery
hour till they operated ; and they generally answered the pur-
pose. Some desperate cases required a larger dose ; and I saw
seen one or two instances where two scruples of these pills wen
taken for a dose, with good effect. However, it ought to be
observed with regard to these pills, as well as to all others where
mercury is an ingredient, that if they do not soon operate by
•tool they' ought to be laid aside, and other purging medioaei
tried in their place ; otherwise they may ba in danger of taking
to the mouth, and raising a salivation.

The coiocynth is the purgative ingredient in most of the pann-
ing beers and ales used by the common people.

As it is the resinous parts of this medicine that are the most
acrid, a watery tincture drawn without heat, or an extract mad*
from such a tincture, has been thought preferable to the coio-
cynth in substance by some ; and when it is given in substance,
the triturating it with sugar or testaceous substances has beet
found to render it much milder.

OFFICINAL PREPARATIONS.
Compound Extract of Colocynth. (Extractum Colocjnthkfii
Com posit urn. D.)

Take of pith of colocynth, cut small, six drachms ;

hepatic aloes, an ounce and a half;

* >» scammony, half an ounce ;

■ lesser cardamom seeds, husked and bruised, one

drachm ;

Castile soap, softened with warm wafer, so as to

have a gelatinous consistence, three drachms ;

warm water, one pint :

Digest the colocynth in the water, in a covered vessel, witb i
moderate heat, for four days. To the liquor, expressed ait
filtered, add the aloes and scammony, separately, reduced to
powder : then evaporate the mixture to a proper thickness for
making pills, having added, towards the end of the evaporation
the soap jelly and powdered seeds ; and mix all the ingredieo*
thoroughly together.

BITTER CUCUMBER, OR COLOOUINTl

Compound Pills of Aloes. (Pilulae Aloes Coi

Take of socotrine aloes, powdered, one ounce*

■ extract of gentian, half an ounce ;
^ « ■ ■■ oil of caraway seeds, two scruples ;

■ syrup of ginger, as much as is sumciea
Beat them together.

Although soap can scarcely be thought to facil
tion of the aloes in the stomach, as was supposed
and others, it is, probably, the most convent
that can be added to give it the proper consisted
pills. When extract of gentian is triturated wif
re-act upon each other, and become too soft to 1
that the addition of any syrup to the mass, as d
London college, is perfectly unnecessary; unless
time some powder be added to give it consistency.

These pills are much used as warm and stomac
they are very well suited for the costiveness so ol
on people of sedentary lires, and, upon the wholi
the most useful articles in the materia medica*

•

HOP.

HUMULUS LUPULUS.

Clou XXI. MoDcecia. Order V. Pentandria.

Kisewt. Gkn. Char. Male flower— Calyx five-leaved: C*relh
Anther* with two pores at top. Female flower — Calyx an oblique
scaleof theament: Corolla none: Styles two: Seed one, coated.

•pec. Char. None, as there is but one species.

DESCRIPTION.
1 his plant rises eighteen feet Stem climbing, goes against the
sun* Leares opposite, petioled, serrated, rough, heart-shaped,
the upper cones three-lobed. Flowers in loose racemes. Solo
of the 8trobilu8 ovate, a yellow green.

HISTORY.

There are several sorts, though the botanists allow bot of one
species of hops. The most esteemed are the long white, the oni,
and the long square garlic hop. These differ from each other ■
the colour and shape of their bells, or hops, in their degree of
bearing, and in their time of ripening. The long white is stost
valued, because it is a great bearer, and produces the most beaa-
tiful hops ; for the beauty of hops consists in their being of a

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pale bright green colour. The oval hop is be*
not bring so large a crop. There is a sort of 1
the early or rath hop, which ripens a week or
the common, and is therefore of advantage to 4
be first at market : but it is more tender, and <l
plentifully. The loog square garlic hop is the
more hardy, and somewhat later ripe than tM
by reason of its redness towards the stalk, U
esteemed as the other sorts. ,

Towards the latter end of July hops begin to
the beginning of August they bell, and, in for*
are sometimes ripe at the end of August, or hi
tember. When they begin to change colour, or ;
to pieces, when they emit a fragrant smell, and i
begin to look brown and grow hard, they may 1
ripe : then pick them with all expedition ; for i
will do them great mischief at this time ; and ho|
and bright, without bruising or discolouring, wil
more than those that are otherwise.

When the poles are drawn up in order to
Tines around them should be cut asunder at the
three or four feet from the ground ; for the c
lower, especially while the hops are green, wo
great a flowing of the sap, as would weaken and

If the poles stick so fast in the ground as not
without difficulty, and hazard of breaking them,
raised by a piece of wood in the nature of a
forked piece of iron, with teeth on the inside,
two feet of the end.

The most convenient way of picking them
square frame of wood, called a bin. This frame
fjoles, or pieces of wood, each nine or ten feet 1
or four inches thick, joined together at about a
from each end, by two other pieces three feet
ported by four legs three* feet and a half high, si
mains in the middle of it a space of six feet lot
and three and a half deep. In this space is fixec
cloth, or hop bag, cut open on one side, and hung
by hitching it on tenter-hooks along the inside of
by stitching it on the outside with wooden ske^
the hops as they are picked. Three men or n

818 hop.

boys or girls, may stand at each side of the frame, and pick twf
poles at a time.

When some poles are raised, bring them with the hops asi
Tines on them, and lay them lengthwise upon the frame; «
erect a forked prop at each end of the frame, and rest the pob
thereon when picking. There is no occasion to strip the vims
or haulm from off the poles before they are picked. The work-
man who raises the poles generally carries them to the frames;
and these, being light, may be easily removed from one part d
the hop ground to another.

The ripest hops should be picked first : but if the hops ap-
pear to be equally ripe in all parts of the plantation, it is best
to begin to pick them on the east or north side of the groaod,
.the more effectually to guard against the south-west wind's
breaking into the garden.

Haying chosen a spot of ground which contains eleven bafis,
place the bin upon the hill which is in the centre, and, after
these are picked, remove it into another spot of the same extent;
and so proceed till the whole is finished.

The hops should be picked as-free as possible from lea?es,aad
stalks ; for these would be of greater prejudice to the sale thai
any seeming advantage which might be expected from tadr
weight The bin should be emptied two or three times a diy
into a large cloth of clean linen, in which the hops should be
immediately stitched up with skewers, and carried direct]? to
the oast, or kiln, to be dried : for if they remain long in tat
bin, or cloth, they will sweat, and be discoloured.

If any brown hops are met with in the picking, care sboaH
be taken to separate them from the rest, by putting them into a
basket by themselves.

If the weather be very hot, or rainy, cut no more hops than
may be picked in an hour : but, if it be possible, gather them is
fair weather only, and when they are dry ; for this precaatioa
will save some expense of coals, and contribute to the better
preservation of their colour when they are dried. No oops
should be gathered when the dew is on them; for that woaU
make them become mouldy.

We can trace, nearly, the introduction of almost every osefel •
plant into Great Britain. To proceed: Of the hop (flinuta*
lupulus). The young shoots of this plant are eaten in the spriag
as asparagus. It is used by the dyer to dye wool yeflow : fro*

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820 hop.

which had rejected the bark in every form, as well as most of
the other bitters which had been prescribed for htm. After
having made numerous experiments with various herbs aad
flowers of the bitter class, as well as with the roots, barks, and
other parts of vegetable substances, none of them appeared to
me so pleasant to the taste, and so agreeable to the stomach, as
the Inpulas. On mentioning this, he requested me to prepare for
him a tincture from that yegetable, which I accordingly did ; bat
before the process was finished, the ship on which he was to em-
bark unexpectedly sailed, and he was obliged to depart without
the medicine. This circumstance 1 consider fortunate ; for other-
wise, in all probability, I should not hare made trial of the la-
pulus ; but having the preparation complete, after due examina-
tion of what different authors had written respecting it, I deter-
mined to employ it whenever a fair opportunity should occur,
being convinced from what I had read, as well as from its knowa
use in the preparation of malt liquors, that a careful administra-
tion of it could not injure my patients, even though it shoald
not answer my expectations of affording them relief."

He then relates a number of very interesting cases, where tat
hop was employed in extract or tincture ; to which are added
some communications from physicians of the highest eminence.

Prom Dr. Latham, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, ami
Physician Extraordinary to the Prince of Wales.

I have the authority of Dr. Latham to say, that he has prescribed
the hamulus lupulus with good effect in stomach and bowel cos-
plaints ; he has directed it as a substitute for laudanum to allay
tho distressing symptoms of phthisis; and has observed it to
check the violent sickness frequently occasioned by extreme dc-
bilit).

From Dr. John Mayo, Fellow of the Royal College ofPkysiatns,
and Physician to the Princess of Wales.

Dr. Mayo authorizes me to state, that he considers it a pe-
culiar bitter, differing essentially from others, and possessing
very valuable properties. His experience of it, when given to ia-
fants, allows him to speak to its safety, and to make mention of
it as a medicine of considerable utility in soma convulsive affec-
tions arising from teething irritation.

HOF.
From Dr. Stone, Fellow of the Royal College q)

Princes-street, ',
Decembei

Dear Sir, — Id reply to yonr inquiries respectii
effects of the hamulus lupulus, 1 beg leave in tl
thank you for having called my attention to itt
preparation and exhibition ; in most dyspeptic cai
tonics are eminently useful, whilst the stronger
and decoctions are found to overpower the stom
heat and thirst, and to aggravate the symptoms wl
intended to relieve. In such cases I have prescribe
parations of the hop with considerable advantag
worth while to state, that when I have employed
simplex, I have added to it sp. ammoniac com p.
tion of about one-fifth of the whole ; and I havi
to continue this form of prescription from my hai
with it beyond my expectation. The importance
a medical point of view, is at least equal to that o
lombo, or camomile ; and it would J>e a valuable
materia medica if it were only for the benefit de
repeated variation of the individual bitter medic
scribed in cases of permanent debility of the stoma
advantage of being grateful to the palate, as is I
censure which daily passes round the dinner-tab
brewers of small beer ; and your preparations of
neficial effects which are scarcely credible to those
it only in their beverage, in combination with the
fusion of malt, which fa seldom proper in those a
most relieved by this medicine : it appears to have
of tending to keep the bowels moderately open,
cases I have mentioned is a very desirable effect,
the necessity of the frequent repetition of purgat
As to its effects on goat, I can only say that I a
give it a further trial, and that I certainly have k
serviceable in this disease : but during six or sev
which I have prescribed it, I have not been able t
a goaty patient to persevere satisfactorily in its us
I am, dear Sir, sincere
Arthur I

822 hop.

From Dr. Maton* Fellow of the Royal College o/Physiams, td
Physician Extraordinary to her Majesty.

Spring Gardens, Nov. 86, 180.

Dear Sir, — Though I had met with many accounts of nedi-
cinal properties in the hamulus, given by various writers oathe
materia medica, I had never been induced to make trial of H
until I perused yojar late publication, which, from the precism
of the experiments and cases contained in it, certainly merits u*
general attention of practitioners.

Of the various forms of disease that come most freqpeodjr
under our care, there is no one perhaps upon which we are,
commonly, less able to produce any immediate impression by
medicine than what may be called articular rheumatism, or that
species of painful affection of the joints which, under many cir-
cumstances, exhibits a Tery near alliance to gout Most td-
ferers under the last-mentioned disease are now so much accas-
tomed either to consider their cases as hopeless, or to dread f»
sorting to remedies, that I could not calculate on having maaj
early opportunities of putting the alleged virtues of the humajis
to the test in that complaint I therefore resolved to begin the
employment of it in the former ; and have had the satirfactifta
to find that it has succeeded, at least better than any other me-
dicine of which I have had experience, and certainly to s degree
that has surprised me.

The only preparations of the hamulus which I have hitherto
prescribed are the extract and the tincture, and (as yon already
know) they were procured from your house. The former 1
have given to the extent of ten grains thrice a day, beginning
with the dose of three, and afterwards gradually increasing hj
but it has never, within my observation, produced such derided
effects as the tincture, in which form it seems to me that tie
sedative properties of the hnmulus are more completely secarcd
than in the other ; and it is, besides, a more elegant and gratefil
preparation. In a dose (given to an adult) smaller than lh the
activity of the tinctura humuli is not considerable, but in that rf
jiss, or 3ij, it rarely fails to produce immediate relief froa
pain, to allay irritability, gently augment the secretions, sad
produce sleep. In one or two instances I have prescribed still
larger doses, which, however, were followed rather by inco*

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HOP.

lenience than comfort to the patient, for they
ach and heat of skia, effects to be expected,
quantity of spirit My most common mode
therefore, has been in the dose of ,3 i every foi
thrice a day ; and I have often advantageously
a saline draught* In removing arthritic pains,
not appear to me to operate by inducing diaph
indeed any other external effect, for I have, in i
seen it conquer the complaint without obvious!
part of the system. Notwithstanding it has be
the bowels, such an effect has not come within
on the contrary, I have often been obliged to o
purgative or other in the midst of a course of it
nicety necessary in determining how far the pi
by the use of the humulus ; but, for my own {
believe that it is reduced in frequency, and incrc
by this medicine in a very direct manner. In on
the number of beats lessened from 96 to 60 wit]
only 3 i of the tincture, and 4 grains of the extra*
six hours,) and a fulness in it was produced simi
is occasioned by a large dose of opium or hen
strongly marked inflammatory diathesis exists, .]
muins to be hurtful, and under many other circii
it be resorted to as a popular and domestic rem
the superb tendance of a judicious practitioner,
that its effects may be mischievous, as happens 1
powerful medicines. That sort of pulse which c
neral irritability, and which, though it may exte
beats in a minute, is not accompanied by grec
seems to be the state of the circulation in which
most likely to be beneficial ; but when there is r<
any local congestion to be present, I suspect th;
of such a medicine will be found hazardous.

When I firsjt inade trial of the humulus, I ft
of discontinuing it in some cases soon after the
removed, and had the mortification to find th;
shortly returned with as much violence as ever,
that it was a mere palliative ; but, after having
caution to continue it several days after my pat
himself cured, I observed his security to be con
Jay great stress, therefore, on the propriety of ;

HOP.

William Coles, herbarist,. in his History 4
lisbed in 1(557, relating the virtues of hops,
are good to cleanse the kidneys from gravel, i
urine; they likewise open obstructions of the 1
eleanse the blood, and loosen the belly ; and as1
blood, to consequently they help to care erupth
He also says, half a drachm of the seeds powdi
in drink, will kill worms," and adds, that " the
wiU care the jaundice." !

Dr. Brookes in his Dispensatory, published i
thus of the lupulus : " Lu pains, hops, the <
help digestion, open obstructions of the viscerrt
spleen, promote urine, and loosen the belly ; tb<
the hypochondriac passion, the scurry, and disea
if given as an alterative in whey or broths. The I
may be given from two to four ounces, the decoc
from one to two handfuls, and half a drachm o!
be given against worms."

Dr. Lewis, in the second edition of his Dispell
iog of hops, says : " These are one of the most aj
strong bitters, though rarely employed for any i
poses. Their principal consumption is in malt i
they preserve from undergoing the acetous and pi
mentations, render less glutinous, and dispose to
freely by urine. The odour of hops hang in a be<3
to induce sleep after opium had failed."

In his Materia Medica the same learned author

have a very bitter taste, less ungrateful than most

strong bitters, accompanied with some degree of vn

matic flavour. They give out their virtue by mat

out heat, both to rectified and proof spirit, and I

8ion to water ; to cold water they impart little,

rated in it for many hours. The extracts obtaine

tery and spirituous menstrua, particularly hy the

elegant balsamic bitters,~and promise to be applica

purposes in medicine, though the hop is at prese

garded as a medicinal article, and scarcely other

for the preserving of malt liquors, which, by the

of this balsamic aperient diuretic bitter, become

nous, more detergent, more disposed to pass off

>n general more salubrious."

WHITE BRYONY RO

BRYONIA ALBA.

Class XXII. Dioecia. Order X. Syngei

Essent. Gejt. Chak. Male flower — Calyx five-too

parted : Filaments three. Female flower — Calyx fi

five-parted : Styles three-cleft : Berry sub-globular, i

Spec. Char. Leaves palmate, rough, with dots on bot

DESCRIPTION.
The stems twist round bushes, and shoot c
teut, tend rilled. The leaves are very large, dimii
gradually, and are j>almated. Lobes pointed, in
standing upon long footstalks. Flowers of a y
the alae of the leaves, striped with green veins
and female flowers on the same branches. <
conspicuous, turning to a bright red berry.

HISTORY.
Native of Britain, common in woods and J
in May and June.

828 WHITE BRYONY BOOT.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

White bryony root is a strong rough purgative, which is bow
thrown oat of onr dispensatory ; it has a nauseous, bitter, acrid
taste, but loses part of its acrimony by drying. It contains toft
gummous and resinous principles. Cartheuser says, anosact
contains about half an ounce of gummous and half a drachm of
resinous principles ; that both are purgatire, but the resmow
part the most so. It was formerly much used as a hydiagog*
purge in dropsies ; and Dr. Sydenham has recommended it modi
in maniacal disorders, to the quantity of a drachm of its powder,
in a gill of milk ; or an infusion of half an ounce of it in a gill
of white wine ; the dote in substance is from a scrapie to a
drachm. The infusion is milder than the root in substance; and
Dr. Lewis says, that an extract prepared by water acts mora
mildly, and with greater safety, than the root itself; given fro*
half a drachm to a drachm, it proves a gentle purgative, and
likewise operates powerfully by urine.

It is said also to cure epilepsy* and rheumatism.

The bryony root may be procured in Coven t Garden, and a
an external application I have seen great good result in casei of
gout, rheumatism, and paralytic affections. The root is scraped
with a knife, and the scrapings, which feel like soap, is to be
rubbed over the anected parts once a day. Immediately a sense
of tingling is felt, like nettles, which soon goes off: and tiff
mild rubefacient I have found also do good in cases of asthma,
rubbed over the chest, and pleuritic affections.

* Arnoldus de Villa Nova. Breo. Pract, b. 1. c. #.

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CRACK WILLO)

SALIX FRAGILIS.

Class XXII. Dicecia. Order II. Diand

Eiswr. Gsif . Char. Male flower— Catkin squamous : i

tariferous Glands. Female flower— Catkin squamo

Styfe bifid: Capsule one- celled, two-valved: Seedpaj:

Spec. Char. Leaves serrated, smooth, ovate-lanceol

glandular teeth. _____

DESCRIPTION.

A largish tree, corered with a gray wrinkle
long, narrow, lance-shaped, serrated, on foot:
inconspicuous, seeds numerous, crowned with
pappus.

HISTORY.

This tree, which grows in hedges and aboi
mers in several parts of England, is easily to
from the other species of willow by the readin
breaks at the year's shoot last made upon bein
with the finger; and hence the name fragilis,
April and May.

DIFFERENT WILLOWS.

BAY-LEAVED WILLO1

SALIX PENTANDRIA.

HISTORY.
Native of Britain, a shrub, flowering in '
This furnishes the best down, which, mixed wil
ton, answer all the purposes of that article. It
then for beds.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

Gunz (Diss, bin* de Cortice Salicis, Lips. 1'
lished two dissertations to prove the prefercn
over that from Peru. It has a fine perfume ; ai
the trunk of this tree is not so subject to rot as I

GREAT ROUND-LEAVED W

SALIX CAPRjEA.

Spec. Char. Leaves ovate, acuminate, serrate, andol
mentose: Stipules sublnnate : Capsules veotricow.

HISTORY.
Native of Britain, grows to fifteen or tweotj
in woods ; flowering in April.

MEDICAL YIRTUE.

The same tonic power resides in this bark
willows, and has been substituted for the cinchoi
says, since the introduction of the willow bark i
the Bath City Infirmary and Dispensary, as a so
bark, not less than twenty pounds a year ha? e bee
charity, and an equal advantage obtained, wbic
wHl render it a very valuable article to all hospifc
bark is required.

Mr. Wilkinson has ably written on the Cork
lie, or Broad-leaved willow bark. Probably th<
of the willows possess great medicinal virtues.

SARSAPARILLA.

#aparilla, .ought to be boiled down to a quart, and i
through a cloth for use. From a pint to a quart o
tion ought to be drunk daily.- A little liquorice ro<
mon, or sassafras, may be added to the decoction
before it is taken from the fire ; or a little cinnamo
be added to it after it has been strained through a cl
. it more agreeable.

OFFICINAL PREPARATIONS.
Decoction op Sarsaparilla. ( Decoct um Sars

Take of sarsaparilla root, cut, six ounces ;

■ of distilled water, eight pints :

After macerating for two hours, with a heat abot
take out the root, and brube if; add it again to th
macerate it for two hours longer; then boil down
four pints, and strain it. The dose is from four o
a pint, or more, daily.

Compound Decoction of Sarsaparilla. (Decoc
rills Compositum.)

Take of sarsaparilla root, cut and bruised, six o

■ of the bark of sassafras root,
of the sharings of guaiac wood,

f of liquorice root, an ounce of each ;

■ of the bark of mezereon root, th ree.dn

■ of distilled water, ten pints :

Digest with a gentle heat for six hours, then boil do
to a half (or fire pints), adding the bark of the n
towards the end of the boiling. Strain off the liquc
is the same as the last, and for the same purposes.

JUNIPER.

JUNIPERUS COMMUNIS,

Clou XXll. Dioecia. Order XII. Monadelj:

BwKirr, G«r. Cbab. Male flowcis-Gi/yx an ament, seal
Stamina three. Female flower— Ca/yx three-parted : P.
• three: Berry three-seeded.
Ipkc. Cbab. JLtfverternate, patent, mncronate : Berry '.

DESCRIPTION.

A. shrub three or four feet high. Leaves nt
narrow, pointed, of a deep green, standing three i
•nt footstalks. Flowers inconspicuous.

HISTORY.

Native of Britain ; an evergreen growing on 1
ing in May ; also found in all parts of Europe,
chiefly brought from Holland and from Italy. T
ries are in general reckoned the best. Junipei
strong, not disagreeable smell, and a warm, punge
which, if they are long chewed, or much bruised;

* Juniper.

the jqniper is now seldom, if ever relied upon for t
dropsies, and only called to the aid of more powerful
it is justly observed by a modern author, that " perhi
the best forms under which the berries can be used h
simple infusion. This either by itself, or with the ad<
little gin, is a very useful drink for hydropic patients
dical writers have also spgken of the utility of junij
•phritic cases, uterine obstructions, scorbutic affections,
cutaneous diseases, and in the two last-mentioned e
the wood and tops of the plant are said to have been
<with more advantage than the berries -K

We are told by Linnaeus J that the Laplanders drink
of the juniper-berries as we do tea and coffee, and that t
prepare a beer from them, in great estimation for ii
and antiscorbutic qualities. Our pharmacopoeias dire
setttial oil and a spirituous distillation of the juniper-]
lie kept in the shops : the former, in doses of two or th
is foun4 to be an active and stimulating medicine;
contains t$fo oil and that of soae other aromatic seedi
the spirit, and therefore differs not considerably fro
nuine geneva imported from Holland ; but there is gr
to believe that the gin usually sold here is frequently n
the common fumentacious spirit, imbued with turpentii
materials to give it a flavour. — Woodville.

OFFICINAL PREPARATIONS.
Compound Spirit of Juniper. (Spiritus Junipei
positus, &L.D.)

Take of juniper-berries, well bruised, one pound ;

. carraway seeds,

sweet fennel seeds, each, bruised, one ou

half;
— diluted alcohol, nine pounds (one gallon, 1

spiralis nitrl dalcis J as. ad sitim sedandam additar. Commen
Apb. t. iv. p. 258. Of this mixture one or two ounces were
three hours.

* Duncan, New Edin. Dispens. p. 214.

t Bergius says, " Virtus : ligni et sum mi tat. diuretic*, sudc
dificans. Bacca diuretica, nutriens, diaphoretic*." M. M. {

X Fior. Lapp. p. 901. They are likewise known to affor
wine. See Du Hamel, Arbres, t. i. p. 325.

85t COMMON SAtlX.

other plant I hare employed j but I have been frequently &-
appointed in this, and its heating qualities always require agreat
deal of caution." Dr. Hdme appears to have had very great
success with this medicine; for in five cases of amenorrhea
which occurred at the royal infirmary at Edinburgh, four were
cured by the sabina*, which he gave in powder from a scropk
to a drachm twice a day. He says it is well suited to the de-
bile, but improper in plethoric habits, and therefore orders re-
peated bleedings before its exhibition. Externally sarin is re-
commended as an escharotic to foul ulcers, syphilitic warts,
&c. +; also an excellent -drawing ointment for issues is prepared
with the powder.

OFFICINAL PREPARATIONS.
Extract op Satin. (Extractum Foliorum Sabinae. LD.)

The regetable matter is to be boiled, in eight times its weight
of water, to one-half; the liquor is then to be expressed, and,
after the faeces have subsided, to be filtered; it is then to be
evaporated, with a heat between 200° and 212°, antil it becoaes
thickish ; and lastly, it is to be evaporated with a heat less tin
200°, and frequently stirred, until it acquire a consistence proper
for forming pills. The dose is from six grains to twenty.

" I think," says Dr. Monro, " both this extract and that of
the rue would be better medicines if the plants were first iof«d
in spirits before they were boiled ; and when the extracts woe
nearly of a proper consistence, if the tinctures thus drawn woe
added to them ; by this means they would possess more of the
aromatic virtues of the plant, and contain the resinous as well
as the gammous parts of it."

Satin Ointmeict. (Unguentum Sabinae. D.)
Take of fresh savin leaves, separated from the stalks, aod
bruised, half a pound ;
* * prepared hog's lard, two pounds ;

■ yellow wax, half a pound :

Boil the leaves in the lard until they become crisp; then fflfer
with expression ; lastly, add the wax, and melt them together.
This is an excellant issue ointment, being, in many respedS
preferable to those of cantharides. It is mixed with eqaal pf*
blistering ointment in order to keep up a discharge.

* Clinical Experiments, p. 387.
t Fabrt, Mai, Veqcr. t. L p. 365.

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PAREIRA BRAVA.

CISSAMPELOS PAREIRA.

Class XXII. Dicecta. Order XII. Monadelpbia.

EsflBVT. Gbw. Char. Male flower — Calyx four-leaved: Corolla none:
Nectary rotate: Stamina four. Female flower — Calyx one-leafed, ligu-
late roundish : Cbrolla none : Styles three : Berry one-seeded.

Spec. Char. Leaves peltate, cordate, emarginate.

DESCRIPTION.

Otalrs numerous, climbing. Leaves roundish, entire, covered
with soft hairs, supported by long footstalks. Flowers incon-
spicuous, of a greenish colour, arising from the alas of the
leaves*

HISTORY.
This is a perennial climbing plant, which grows in the West
India islands, and in South America. The root, which is offi-
cinal, is brought to us from Brazil, in pieces of very different
sizes ; it is crooked, and variously wrinkled on the surface;
outwardly of a dark colour, internally of a dull yellow, and in-
terwoven with woody fibres; so that, upon a transverse section,

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854 PAREIRA BRATA.

a number of concentric circles appear, crossed with fibres, wWefc
run from the centre to the circumference. It has no smell; tk
taste is a little bitterish, blended with a sweetness like tint of
liquorice.

MEDICAL USE.
The root is highly extolled by the Americans and Portagus*
in a great variety of diseases, particularly against soppressiosi
of urine, nephritic pains, and calculus. Geoflroy also found it
useful in nephritic disorders, in ulcers of the kidneys and bud.
der, in humoral asthmas, and in some species of jaundice. 1st
common people of Jamaica use a decoction of the roots for p*isj
and weakness of the stomach proceeding from relaxation. 1W
dose of the root in substance is from twelve grains to half *
drachm ; in decoction, to two or three drachms. M. Geofrof,
in a paper inserted in the Memoirs of the Royal Academy of
Sciences for the year 1710, says, that he has often tried it is
nephritic colics with success, and that he thinks it a tsefil re-
medy in ulcers of the kidney and bladder ; his method of pre.
paring it was, to boil two drachms of it from three pintsof
water to one,, to sweeten the strained liquor with sugar, sad to
giro it by tea-cupf uls at a time.

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BUTCHER'S BROOM.

RUSCUS ACULEATUS.

Class XXII. DioRCta. Order X. Syngenesia.

Ewewt. Gsif . Char, Male flower— Calyx six-leaved : Corolla none : Nec-
tary central, ovate, perforated at the apex. Female flower— Calyx,
Corolla, and Nectary, similar to the male : Sty Us one : Berry three-celled :
Seeds two.

Spec. Char. Leaves with pungent points, bearing the flowers above,
naked.

DESCRIPTION.

A shrub, seldom exceeding a foot. Leaves bearing the flowers
sessile, ovatp, rigid, sharply pointed, entire, marked with pa*
rallel veins. Flowers conspicuous, fixed on the leaves. Female
producing a three-celled red berry, containing two globular seeds.

HISTORY.
Native of Britain in woods and thickets, flowering in March

and April.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

Riverius relates a case of dropsy successfully treated by a de-
coction of the roots of this plant;' but at present it is rarely, if
ever, employed in medicine.

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WHITE HELLEBORE, or VERATRUM,

VERATRUM ALBUM.

Clatt III. Polygamia. Order I. Moncecia.
Bmewt. Gen. Char. Calyx none: Corolla six-petalled :

Pistils three : Capsules three, many-seeded.
Spec. Char. Raceme more than decomposed : Corolla* erect.

DESCRIPTION.
I his plant rises four feet. The leaves are numerous, ray
large, oval, ribbed, entire, plaited, sessile, vaginant. Flowers
bisexual ; also male flowers, of a greenish colour, on veryloo&
branched, terminal spikes.

HISTORY.
Native of Italy, Switzerland, and Austria, flowering few"
June to August.

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OR TEBATRVM. 857

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
White hellebore root is a nauseous, hot, acrid substance,
which, taken internally, is a very strong emetic and cathartic,
and has sometimes operated so violently as to occasion con-
vulsions, and death ; on which account it is now laid aside,
though it is still used as an external application in some cuta-
neous disorders. Its powder, mixed with oily substances, or a
strong decoction of it, applied to the affected parts, cures the
itch as effectually as sulphureous ointments do.

We hed a tincture of it in our dispensatory, called tinctura
Teratri, drawn with a proof spirit, which proved a violent emetic
and cathartic, taken from half a drachm to two drachms ; it was
sometimes used as an alterative, the length of a few drops ; but
it has been thrown out of the new dispensatory, having never
i been used of late, on account of its virulence.

Nevertheless the ancients are high in their encomiums on this
plant in cases of mania and epilepsy, and similar observations
have been made of veratrum by authors of later times. May.
erne* gave from two to three grains of an extract of this root
with considerable advantage in maniacal cases, where no re*
markable evacuation took place ; and Con. Gesner t, who in-
vestigated the qualities of veratrum by repeated experiments,
and whose encomiums on its efficacy seemed for a while to re-
store it to the ancient character of hellebore, expressly declares
that he did not give it as an evacuant, but to produce the more
gradual effects of those medicines termed alteratives. Gesner**
account of veratrum was followed by those of several other au-
thors |, in which it is said to have been serviceable in various
chronic diseases. But the fullest trial which seems to have been
lately made of the efficacy of veratrum is by G reding §, who

• Prax. Med. lib. i. c. 7. p. 69. sq.

+ He say9, Non ad purgandum, sed ad reserandos meatus et crassos hu-
mores attenuandum, eosque a centro et ioterioribus corporis ad superficial
et vias excretionum variaruin educendum." Adding, " recreat et roborat,
et hilartorem faclt, et acuit ingenium : quod in me et aliis saepissime ex-
pertus scribo." Had Gesner lived Ibng enough, he had still more to say on
this subject. " Ego, si vixero, in Hellebori historia multa proferam, quae
medic i admirentnr." L. c.

} Hanneraann, Qnercetanus, Screta, Wepfer, Muralto, Linder.

\ Vermischte Med. u. Chirurg. 8c h listen. Altenb. 1781, to p. SO.

YYendt relates a case of mania, brought on by taking pepper and spirit*

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858 WHITE HELLEBORE, OB YBRATHUM.

employed it in a great number of cases (twenty-eight) of the
maniacal and melancholic kind ; the majority of these, as might
be expected, derived no permanent benefit; several, howerer,
were relieved, and fire completely cared by this medicine. It
was the bark of the root, collected in the spring, which he gave
in powder, beginning with one grain : this dose was gradually
increased according to its effects. With some patients one or
two grains excited nausea and vomiting, but generally eight
grains were required to produce this effect, though in a few in*
stances a scruple, and even more, was given. We may also
remark, that he sometimes used the extract prepared after
StOerck'a manner. In almost every case which he relates, the
medicine acted more or less upon all the excretions : vomitang
and purging were very generally produced, and the matter
thrown off the stomach was constantly mixed with bile ; a florid
redness frequently appeared on the face, and various cntarieoas
efflorescences upon the body ; and in some, pleuretic symptoms
with fever supervened, so as to require bleeding, nor were the
more alarming affections of spasms and convulsions unfrequenL
Critical evacuations, we are told, were often very evident, many
sweated profusely, in some the urine was considerably increased,
in others the saliva and the mucous discharges : also uterine ob-
structions, of long continuance, were often removed by thv
drug.

Veratrum has likewise been found useful in epilepsy, and
other convulsive complaints* ; but the diseases in which its effi-
cacy seems least equivocal are those of the skin +, as scabies
and different prurient eruptions, herpes, morbus pedicalotos,
lepra, scrophula, &&, and in many of these it has been suc-
cessfully employed both internally and externally.

As a powerful stimulant, and irritating medicine, its use his
been resorted to only in desperate cases, and then it is first to

of wine as a remedy for the ague % the disease continued thirty-three weeks,
when it was said to have been cured by a decoction of white hellebore;
but as copious and repeated bleedings, with other means, were employed,
the cure cannot wholly be ascribed to the hellebore. See Agassiz. Din.
de Therapia Mania. Erl. 1785, p. 37,

* Greding, 1. c. See also Smyth in Medical Communications, ffi i>
p. 207.

+ Its success in these complaints is mentioned both by the ancient art
modern writers. Smyth relates three cases. See 1, c,

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OR VERATHUM. 859

be tried in very small doses, in a diluted state, and to be gnu
dually increased according to the effects*

PRESCRIPTION.

Ifc. 1. Take of powdered white hellebore • drachms 2,

■ flowers of sulphur • . . ounce 1,

■ ■ essence of lemon - - - scruples 2,

— — hog's lard ...... ounces 2 :

Make into an ointment. Smear all the joints for three nights
with this, wash it off in the morning with soap and water, and
take flowers of sulphur mixed with honey or treacle, so as to
keep the body open ; repeat the smearing for three times at the
interval of two days, and the most inveterate itch is certain to
disappear.

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WALL PELLITORY.

PARIETARIA OFFICINALIS.

Class XXIII. Polygamia. Order I. Monoecla.
EsisifT. Gen. Char. Biaexnal flower— Calyx foor-cleft : CordUwm:
Stamina four : Style one : Seed one, above, elongated. Female fewer-
Calyx four- cleft: Corolla none: Stamens none: Style one i Seed ott,
above, elongated..

DESCRIPTION.
A small plant. Leaves elliptic, pointed, veined, on short
footstalks. Flowers clustered, small, inconspicuous, 0/ *
greenish colour tinged with red, placed at the alae of the leara

HISTORY.
Native of Britain, common on old walls and amongst rub-
bish, flowering from May till September,

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
Floycr says that this herb is powerfully diuretic : and HaD*

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WAIX PELLITORT. 861

says, "We hare the history of a dog, who being often attacked
with a suppression of urine, relieved himself by finding out and
eating the parietaria, and wheu he could find no more of this
plant he died, when there was found a calculus, whose inequa-
lities of surface gave traces of the action of this remedy.'1 Clarke
says that the milk from goats fed much upon this herb, given
after the operation of tapping, has done wonders. Maroellus
recommends employing the carbon of this plant to preserve and
whiten the teeth. The leaves strewed in granaries are said tm
destroy the corn weevil.

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EGYPTIAN MIMOSA.

MIMOSA NILOTICA.

Class XXIII. Polygamic. Order!. Monoecia.
Eisext. Gen. Chaw. Bisexual dower— Calyx fire-cleft : Stsmsm fie, m

more : Pistil one : a Legume. Male flower— Calyx five-toothed : Cent*

five-cleft : Stamina five, ten, or more.
Spec. Char. Spines stipular, spreading: outer partial

by a gland : Spikes globular, pcduncled.

DESCRIPTION.

This tree rises ten or twelve feet. Leaves bipkinate, alter*
nate. Pinna; opposite. Spines long, white, spreading, and pro-
ceed from each side of the base of the leaves. Flowers globabr,
conspicuous from their numerous filaments and yellow anthers,
producing long pods.

HISTORY.

Native of Arabia and JEgypt, and flowers in July. Tkt

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JtGYPTIAN MIMOSA. 863

greatest quantity of pure gum, commonly called gum arable, is

furnished by this tree, from which it exudes either spontaneously,

or from incisions made into the bark, and afterwards hardens in

the air. But a similar gum may be obtained from all the species

of mimosa, and from many other trees, such as the Swietenia

febrifuga, Melia azadirachta, and the different species of ter-

minalia. It is remarkable that the barks of all the trees which

furnish this bland mucilaginous substance are highly astringent;

r that of the Mimosa nilotica itself is used in India for tanning ;

l • and in our country, the cherry and plum trees, which some-

l" ! times yield a little gum, have very astringent barks.

y There are two kinds of gum found in the shops, arid sold

c promiscuously ; gum arable, which comes from the Levant, and

I East Iudia gum. Gum arabic consists of roundish transparent

P tears, colourless, or of a yellowish colour, shining fracture,

without smell or taste, and perfectly soluble in water. The

pieces which are most transparent, and ha?e least colour, are

reckoned the best They are sometimes selected from the gum

Arabic in sorts, and sold for about double the price, under the

title of pickled gum. The East India gum is darker coloured

than gum arabic, and is not so readily soluble in water.

MEDICAL USE.

(}) It possesses the powers of a mucilaginous demulcent in a high

degree; and is frequently exhibited in diarrhoea, dysentery,

. chincough, hoarseness, strangury, &c ; and is an extremely

useful article for giving form to' some remedies, and for correct.

tfi ing the acrimony bf others.

r OFFICINAL PREPARATIONS.

Mucilage of Gum Arabic (Mucilago Mimoss Niloticae. E.)
>if Take of gum arabic, in powder, one part;

■ boiling water, two parts :

Digest with frequent agitation, until the gum be dissolved ; then

press the mucilage through linen.

** Mucilage or Gum Arabic (Mucilago Arabic! Gummi. L.)

v Take of gum arabic, in powder, four ounces ;

j ■ boiling distilled water, eight ounces :

: ' Triturate the gum with the water until it be dissolved.

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864; EGYPTIAN MIMOftA*

Dab.
Take of gam arabic, ia coarse powder, foar oances ;

■ boiling water, eight ounces, by measure :
Digest with frequent agitation, till the gam be dissolved, tin
•train the mucilage through linen.

It is jety necessary to pass the mucilage through fines, it
order to free it from pieces of wood and other imparities, which
always adhere to the gum : the linen may be placed in a funnel

Mucilage of gum arabic is very useful in many operation! is
pharmacy ; it is also much used for properties peculiar to those
substances of its own class ; and of all the gums, it seems to be
the purest.

Almond Emulsion. (Emulsio Amygdalae Communis. £.)

Take of sweet almonds, one ounce ;

water, two pounds and a half:

Beat diligently the blanched almonds, in a stone mortar, gift*
dually pouring on them the water ; then strain the liquor.

Almond Milk. (Lac Amygdala?. L. D.)

Take of sweet almonds, blanched, an ounce and a half;

double refined sugar, half an ounce ;

distilled water, two pints, (two pints and a half, D.):

^eat the almonds with the sugar ; then rubbing them together,
add by degrees the water, and strain the liquor.

Arabic Emulsion. (Emulsio Mimosas Nilotic*, vulgo Emuiao

Arabica, E.)
Is made in the same manner as the almond emulsion, only add-
ing, while beating the almonds,

Mucilage of gum arabic, two ounces.

Arabic Emulsion. (Emulsio Arabica. D.)

Take of gum arabic, in powder, two drachms ;

, sweet almonds, blanched,

■■ double refined sugar, each half a drachm ;

■ decoction of barley, one pint :

Dissolve the gum in the warm decoction, and when it is almost
cold, pour it upon the almonds previously well beaten with the
sugar, and at the same time triturate them together; so as to
form an emulsion, and then filter.

All these may be considered as possessing nearly the sane

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JfcGTPTlAK MIMOSA*

865

qualities. They are merely mechanical suspensions of oil f>( al-
monds in watery fluids, by means either of the mucilage with
Which it is naturally combined in the almonds by itself, or as.
sisted by the addition of gum arabic and sugar. Therefore, on
standing some days, the oily matter separates and rises to the
top, not in a pure form, but like thick cream. By heat the
same decomposition is immediately effected.

Great care should be taken that the almonds ha?e not become
rancid by keeping, which not only renders the emulsion ex-
tremely unpleasant, (a circumstance of great consequence in a
medicine that requires to be taken in large quantities,) but like*
wise gives it injurious qualities.

The almonds are blanched by infusing them in boiling water,
and peeling them. The success of the preparation depends upon
beating the almonds to a smooth pulp', and triturating them with
each portion of the watery fluid, so as to form an uniform mix*
tore before another portion be added.

These liquors are principally used for diluting and correcting
acrimonious humours ; particularly in heat of urine and stran-
guries, arising either from a natural acrimony of juices, or
from the operation of cantharides and other irritating medi-
cines. In these cases they aje to be drunk frequently, to the
quantity of half a pint, or more, at a time*

CATECHU MIMOSA.

MIMOSA CATECHU*

CfaffXXUt. Potygaaia. Order I. Moooecia,
Imevt. Gkm. Cairn. The nub* at the laat.
trsc Cbab. 8pime$ atipalar t Lemcu bipinoate: Pimue i

of the partial ones Miliary s ^Oawilifcra^ axillary, la palwarthwav

pedaackd.

DESCRIPTION.

A- Tin twelfe feat in height Leaves doubly winged, alter-
nate. Fkuw from fifteen to thirty pair. Spines in pairs, at the
basis of each leaf, small, recarred. Flowers in close spikes,
arising from the axflfce of the leaves. Filaments numerous, capil-
lary, doable the length of the corolla, crowned with round yeU
low anthers. Fruit, a long pod.

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4ATBCH0 MIMOSA* 807

' BISTORT.
This tree b abradant in die mountainous parts of fitindostafl,
Where it flowers in Jane* The extract of catechu, which was
formerly termed, with peculiar impropriety, Japan earth, b
principally prepared from the internal coloured part of the
wood* by decoction, evaporation, and exsiccation in the son.
But catechu is also prepared in India from several other species
of mimosa, and eren from the woods, barks, and fruits of other
genera.

There are two kinds of this extract; one is sent from Bom*
bay, the other from Bengal* The extract from Bombay is of a
uniform texture, and of a red brown tint, its specific gravity
being generally about 1*99. The extract from Bengal is more
friable and less consistent Its colour h like that of chocolate
externally; but, when broken, its fau^ure presents streaks of
chocolate and of red brown* Its specific gravity is about 1*28.
Their tastes are precisely similar, being astringent, but leaving
in the mouth a sensation of sweetness* They do not deliquesce,
#r apparently change by exposure to the air, and are not fusible* *
By Mr. Davy's analysis, fOO grains gave,

Bombay. Behgal.
Tannin * * 100 OT

Peculiar extractive matter * • 68 73

Mucilage 13 16

Residual matter, chieiy sand and cal-
careous earth 10 14

MEDICAL U8E.

Catechu is one of the meet convenient and powerful astrisu
gents we possess, and may be exhibited in every case where
astringents are indicated. It is particularly serviceable in dU
' arrhcea, in hoarseness from relaxation of the fauces, ulcers and
aphtha of the mouth, and in excoriations with lymphatic ex-
udations.

The antiseptic quality of catechu appears from the experi-
ments made by sir John Pringle* (Vide Dis* of the Army,
A pp. Exp. 10.) Hnxhain employed it successfully in cases
where a putrid dissolved state of the blood prevailed* Thfa ex-
tract is the principal ingredient in an ointment of great repute
In India, composed of catechu four ounces, alum nine drachms*
white resin four ounces ; these are r^deoed to a fine powder, and

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868 4ATECHU MIMOSA.

mixed with the hand, adding olire oil ten ounces, and turf.
ficient quantity of water to bring the mass to the consistent*
of an ointment To all sores and ulcers in warm climates astrit.
gent applications of this kind are found to be particularly useful.

PREPARATIONS.
Electuary of Catechu, commonly called Japonic Co*.
FECTioif. (Electuarium Mimosa Catechu, olim Confectit
Japonica. E.)
Take of extract of mimosa catechu, four ounces ;

kino, three ounces ;

cinnamon,

nutmeg, each one ounce ;

opium, diffused in a sufficient quantity of Spsnisl

white wine, one drachm and a half;

■■ syrup of red roses, boiled to the consistence of

honey, two pounds and a quarter :
Reduce the solids to powder ; and, having mixed them with the
opium and syrup, make them into an electuary.

Compound Electuary of Catechu. (Electoarium Cateckt
Compositnm. D.)
Take of catechu, four ounces ;

■ « cinnamon, two ounces ;

' kino, three ounces : powder these ; then add,

■ hard purified opium, diffused in Spanish white wise,
a drachm and a half;

syrup of ginger, evaporated to the consistence of

honey, two pounds and a quarter :
Mix them.

These electuaries, which do not differ in any material parti*
cular, are extremely useful astringent medicines, and are often
giran in doses of a tea-spoonful, frequently repeated, in cases
of diarrhoea, &c Ten scruples contain one grain of opiom.

Infusion of Catechu, commonly called Japonic Infusion
(Infusum Mimosa* Catechu, yulgo Infusum Japonicum. £•)
Take of extract of catechu, in powder, two drachms aod i
half;

■ ■ cinnamon, bruised, half a drachm ;
- ■■ boiling water', se?en ounces ;

■ ■•■ simple syrup, one ounce :

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CATECHU MIMOSA. S6$

Macerate the extract and cinnamon in the water,, in a coTered
vessel, for two hours ; then strain it, and add the syrup.

As this preparation will not keep above a (Jay or two, it must
always be made extemporaneously. The two hours maceration,
therefore, becomes very often extremely inconvenient; but it
may be prepared in a few minutes by boiling, without in the
least impairing the virtues of the medicine.

Extract of catechu is almost pure tannin. This infusion is
therefore a powerfully astringent solution. The cinnamon and
syrup render it sufficiently agreeable, and it will be found ser-
viceable in diarrhoeas proceeding from a laxity of the intestines*
Its dose is a spbonful or two erery other hour, or after every
loose stool.

Tincture of Catechu. (Tincture Mimosae Catechu, olim
Tinctura Japonica. E. Tincture Catechu. L. D.)

Take of extract of catechu, three ounces ;

«■ cinnamon, bruised, two ounces;

- — > — diluted alcohol, two pounds and a half, (two pints^
L. D.:)
Digest for seven days, and strain through paper.

The cinnamon is a ?ery useful addition to the catechu, not
only as it warms the stomach, but likewise as it covers its rough*
ness and astriiigency.

This tincture is of service in all kinds of defluxions, ^catarrhs,
loosenesses, uterine, fluxes, and other disorders where astrin-
gent medicines are indicated. Two or three tea-spoonfuls may
be taken every now and then in red wine, or any other proper
vehicle.

PRESCRIPTIONS.

I£. 1. Take of catechu, in powder . . grains 15,

■ purified alum .... grains 3,

conserve of roses • - - - drachm •£,

■ ■ syrup of white poppies, as muchms is suffi-
cient: *

Make into a bolus, to be taken at bed-time, to stop diarrhoea,
r}. 2. Take of catechu, in powder - - drachm \,

syrup of clove J u\y .flower*, as much as is

sufficient: '

Make into a bolus, to be taken tk . r.«ve* * *«! • T^™3^ *■
diarrhoea.

**^ #•*•***»•

WfO catww troetA,

ft. J. Takeo/ontechu, in powder,

■ compound powder gf chalk, of each, drachm 4,
— — syrup of poppies, at much at it snnkfant:
Iftko fata aa electuary, of which take the aha of a anus*
three or faur teat a dajr. Gireo la diarrhcea*
ft. 4. Take of catechu, in powder,

contorre of red roses, equal porta, drachm %
— — mudkgeofgiiiaarabi^asmiciiaftiitafidoftt:
Make into tacnget, of which one is to be frequently pat Sail
<|m mouth,
ft. 6. Take of catecha, ia powder,

* i« timarooba bark,

"i ■ ■' ■■ cinnamon, of each - - drachms %

* boiling water - • - - pint 1 s
Macerate for four hours in a coTered Teste! j ttraio.

ft. 0. Take of the strained liquor - * - - ounces 7,
■ compound tincture of cardamoms, ounce 1,

—— opiate confection . - - - dradnul:
Blake into a mixture, of which take two' taMe-apoousW fan
Hmetaday. Excellent in fluxes of all kinds.

j imi

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0
I

1
I*

FLOWERING ASH.

FRAXINUS ORNUS.

Out XXIII. Polygamia. Ortsr II. Diattla.
Emctt. Gb*. Cba*. Bbexval fiower--Ca(p* none, or four-parted : Co-

roAs mm, or foar-petalled: &om*M two : PtoW one, lanceolate.
SrscCaAB. J^eavet ovate-oblong , terrated, peMoled ; £»roOa four-parted.

DESCRIPTION.

A lofty tree. Leaves pinnated, opposite, consisting of three
or four pair of pinnae, terminating with an odd one of a bright
green. Flowers in branched spikes. Segments of the corolla
linear and sharp-pointed.

HISTORY.
NatiVe of the sooth of Europe, particularly Sicily and Cala-
bria. The manner in which the manna b obtained from the
Ornus, though very simple, has been jet ? ery much misunder-
stood by all who ha? e tra? died in the kiogdom of Naples; and
among other things they seem to *»*»£ thai tta best and purest

872 FLOWERING ASH.

manna if obtained from the leaves of the tree ; bat this, I befieve,
is an opinion taken from the doctrine of the ancients, and re-
ceived as an incontestable observation, without consulting natare.
I never saw such a kind, and all those who are employed in the
gathering of the manna know of none that comes from the
leaves. The manna is generally of two kinds ; not on account
of the intrinsic quality of them being different, but only because
they are got in a different manner. In order to have^the manna,
.those who have the management of the woods of the orni, in the
month of July and August, when the weather is very dry and
warm, make an oblong incision, and take off from the bark of
the tree about three inches in length and two in breadth ; they
leave the wound open, and by degrees the manna runs out, and
is almost suddenly thickened to its proper consistence, and is
found adhering to the bark of the tree. This manna, which is
collected in baskets, and goes under the name of manna grist*,
is put in a dry place, because moist and wet places will soom
dissolve it again. This first kind is often in large irregular pieces
of a brownUh colour, and frequently is full of dust and other
impurities. But when the people want to have a wery fine
manna, they apply to the incision of the bark tjiin straw, or
small bits of shrubs, so that the manna, in coming out, runs
upon those bodies, and is collected in a sort of regular tubes,
which gite it the name of manna in cannoli, that is, manna in
tubes : this second kind is more esteemed, and always preferred
to the other, because it b free and clear. There is indeed a
third kiud of manna, which is not commonly to be met with,
and which I have seen after I left Calabria: it is very while,
like sugar ; but as it is rather for curiosity than for use, I shall
say no more of it The two sorts of manna already mentioned
undergo no kind of preparation whatsoever before they are ex-
ported ; sometimes they are finer, particularly the manna grassa,
and sometimes very dirty and full of impurities ; but the Nea-
politans have no interest iu adulterating the manna, because they
always have a great deal more than what they generally export;
and if manna is kept in the magazines, it receives often very
great hurt by the southern winds, so common in our part of
the world. The changes of the weather produce a sadden alters*
tion in the time that the manna is to be gathered ; and for tan
reason, when the summer is rainy, the manna is always i^rj
scarce and very bad. '

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FLOWERING 4SH. 873

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

Manna, Dr. Woodville well observes, is a gentle purgative,
so mild in its operation that it may be given with safety to chil.
dren and pregnant women ; 'in some constitutions, however, it
produces troublesome flatulencies, and therefore requires the
addition of a suitable aromatic, especially when given to an
adult, where a large dose is necessary ; it is therefore usually
acuated by some other cathartic of a more powerful kind. The
efficacy of manna is said, by Vallisnieri, to be much promoted
by cassia fistularis, a mixture of the two purging more than
both of them separately ; it is therefore very properly an ingre-
dient in the electuariuin e cassia.

PRESCRIPTIONS.

ft. 1. Take of manna »•«>.-.. ounce 1,

mucilage of gum arabic,

oil of almonds,

■ syrup of .lemons, of each - drachms 2 :
Make into a linctns, of which give a tea-spoonful to a child at
bed-time.

ft. % Take of manna,

— oil of almonds, of each .... ounce 1,

prepared kali • ..... grains 12,

■ cinnamon,

' rose water, of each ..... ounces 3 :

Mix carefully the oil, kali, and manna together, gradually poor*
ing the liquids to form an emnlsion, of which take two table,
spoonsful night and morning. One of our mildest purges, the
alkali and oil making a kind of extemporaneous soap.

ft* 3. Take of manna ....... ounces 2,

■ tamarinds ...... ounce 1,

■ ■ rose water ...... ounces 8:

Boil the rose water and tamarinds together for a quarter of

an hour, then add the manna.'

Three table-spoonsful is to be taken every three hours, until
a motion is obtained. Less is to be given to a child. A most
mild purge.

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GINSENG.

PANAX QUINQUEFOLIUM.

Clau XXIII. Polygamia. Order II. Dicecia.
Bttnrr. Gbm. Ca*a. Bimnal flower an Umbel: Co/yx ftve-4*«tkft4

abote : tioroife five-petalled i Stamina five : Sfyfc* two : Berry fwo-

•eedcd.
trie. Chab. JUmm la threes or f to.

DESCRIPTION.

Thu plant rises a foot The feares arise with the flower-stalk
from a thick joint io the stem, Leaves have the appearance
from their disposition of being one digitated leaf, on short
purple footstalks, one on a long footstalk, all fixed to a common
petiolus, veined, serrated, pointed, smooth. Flowers small,
forming a small q>aod umbel.

HISTORY.
This is a perennial plant, which grows in Tartar? and North
America, towering with us in June. The root b about the
thickness of the little finger; an inch or two in length, often
dividing into two branches ; of a whitish yellow colour, wrinkled
on the surface; of a compact, almost hornj texture; whoa

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GINSENG, 875

broken, exhibiting a resinous circle in the middle, of a reddish
colour. It has no smell, but a very sweet taste, combined with
a slight degree of aromatic bitterness,

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

The Chinese, probably on account of Us scarcity, hare a very
extraordinary opinion of the' virtues of this root, so that it sells
for many times its weight in silver. The Americans, on die
contrary, dtsregasd it, bemuse it is found plentifully in their
woods. In fact, it it a gentle and agreeable stimulant

Jartottx, speaking of tha effect of this plant on him, says:
" I observed the state of my pulse, and then took half of a root
raw t in an hour after I found my pulse much fuller and quicker;
I had an appetite, and found myself much more vigorous, and
could bear labour much better and easier than before. But I
did not rely on this trial alone, imagining that this alteration
might proceed from the rest we had that day ; but four days
after, finding" myself so fatigued and weary that I could scarce
sit on horseback, a mandarin who was in company with us per*
ceiving it, gare me one of these roots j I took half of it imme-
diately, and an hour after I was not the least sensible of any
weariness. I have often made use of it dace, and always with
the same success. I have observed also, that the green leaves,
and especially the fibrous parts of them, chewed, would pro*
dace nearly the same eflect"— Phil. Trans, vol xxrtiL p. 239,

The dote is from a scruple to a drachm*

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COMMON FIG TREE.

FICUS CARICA.

Ctast XXIII. Polygamia. Order III. TricecU.
Etsnrr. Geif . Cif A*. Common Receptacle top-shaped, fleshy,

the flowers either in the same or distioct fruits. Male flower— &f?

three-parted t Corolla none : ' Stamens three. Female flower— Celgt aw*

parted : Corolla none : Pistil one : Seed one.
Spec. Char. Leaves palmate. ,

DESCRIPTION*.
A moderate sized tree. Leaves large, succulent, smooth, iff*
gularly divided into five lobes, standing on long footstalks. Tsf
flowers are concealed at first from ? iew, until the ripening <*
bursting of the fruit, which is a receptacle, not a pericarp; **
the flowers here are of two kinds, as represented in the fp3^
character.

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COMMON FIG fRII. 877

HISTORY.

It is a native of the soath of Europe, and produces its fruit
In June and July.

From history, says Dr. Wood vi lie, both sacred and profane,

f the fig tree appears to have been known in the roost early times.

f It has been long cultivated in England, and, if screened from the

^ north*east winds, commonly ripens its fruit here. The fig,

, which has always been found a wholesome food, was by the

V ancients ripened or brought to perfection by caprification ; a

practice which in some countries is still continued. It had been

observed that the fruit of this tree frequently withered and

dropped off before it arrived at a state of maturity, and upon

. examination it was discovered that those figs succeeded best

Which had been perforated by certain winged insects, which

therefore were supposed to be instrumental in ripening the fruit*

This gave rise to caprification, which formerly consisted in tying

near the young figs the fruit of the wild fig tree, in which the

flies above mentioned breed in abundance; and these insects,

upon acquiring sufficient strength, issue from the wild fruit, and

by penetrating the young figs produce the effect intended. That

this insect, which by the ancients was oalled Psenes or Culex,

and by Linnsetts Cynips psenes, produced this desirable effect, is

generally admitted ; but how it is to be explained has been the

subject of some dispute, some asserting, that as pears and other

:{ fruit ripen quickest upon being bit or pierced by insects, so by

caprification ; whereas the sexual is ts maintain that they carry the

farina of the mate flower to . Jh& female, florets, and therefore

improve the fig : and it may be remarked that our figs cannot

I be raised from the fruit

f To prevent ripe figs from running into putrefaction, it is usual

tl to dry them ; which may be done either by the heat of the sun,

/ or by means of an oven : the latter way is preferred, especially

when the fruit has been caprified, as the larva of the cynips is

destroyed by the heat. The best figs are imported from the

southern parts of Europe in small chests, and are compressed

into a circular form, of a yellowish colour, and filled with a

i Tiscid sweet pulp, in which are lodged numerous small yellow

i lenticular seeds. The surface of the figs is commonly covered

. with a saccharine matter which exudes from the fruit, and hence

they have been named Caries pingneg or fat Figs.

878 jCOttXO* FIG TJUOS*

The recent fruit, completely ripe, it soft, succulent, tadenfy
digested, unless eaten io immoderate quantities ; wheaitnift
to occasion flatulency, pab of the bowels, and diarrhoea. Ik
dried fruit is pleasanter to the taste, and is more wholesome ni
nutritWo. Figs are supposed to be more nutritions by hariaf
their sugar united with a large portion of mocOaginoes notts,
Which, from being thought to be of an oiljr nature, haibees
long esteemed an useful demulcent and pectoral ; and it is chietr
with a riew to these effects that they ha? e been medicinally ea»
ployed.

Figs are directed by the London Pharm* in the decocosi
hordei compositum, and in the electuarium lenitfram. Exter-
nally applied they are supposed to promote the suppurate a*
tumours, and hence hare a place in maturating cataplasms; wn
this intention they are sometimes used by theaselTesj as warn *
they can easily be borne, to phlegmons of the gums, and other
parts where a. poultice cannot be conTeniently applied.

Linnstus first put the fig Into Class XXIV. Cryptogam*.

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MALE FERN.

POLYPODIUM VULGARE.

Clan XXIV. Cryptogamia. Order I. Fflicet.
JCmckt. Gaa. Char. Fructification in roandish points, scattered aleng the

back of the leaf,
•rac. Caaa. #V«*dsblpinntte: Ffet** obtest, crconlate: Jbof scaly.

DESCRIPTION.

Xm leares shoot from the root, and curl round in their young
State, afterwards extend themscl? es three or four feet : middle
rib or stem corered with brown, tough, transparent scales. The
pinnae are from thirty to forty pair, gradually diminishing to-
wards the top, when it ends in a point The fructification is
in regular dots on the back of the leaf, which are corered with
a pellicle that bursts, and, haying discharged the seeds, become

brown.

HISTORY.

Natire of Britain, common on heaths and borders of woods,
and in rocky places.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
The root of this plant has long been estaamed a powerful

880 HALE FERN.

remedy for worms ; aod its powder haft been sold nods I
fictitious nam*, as an infallible specific for the broad or tape-
worm : sometimes it has been ordered to be taken without asj
mixture ; at other times gamboge, scamniony , mercury, and other
purgafire medicines, hare been ordered to be taken with it

In the year 1755, the late king of France purchased, fori
sum of money, the receipt of a medicine which was said to be
an effectual en re for the tape- worm, from a madam Neofer, the
widow of a surgeon in Switzerland, whose husband1 used to ad-
minister it On discovery it proved to be fern root redoced to
powder, which was to be taken in the following manner: The
day before the patient was to begin to take the fern, he wis to
take a dose of some opening medicine* and after its operation
to make a very Jight supper ; next morning he was to take three
drachms of the powder of the fern root in a cup of lime flower
water, and after it a little orange peel, or of some other gratefil
aromatic, and if he vomits it up, to take soon after another foil
dose of the powder of the fern root. Two hours after the dose
of the fern root is swallowed, to take the following purging
powders ; viz. twelve grains of resin of scammooy, mixed with
as much of the panacea mercurialis (calomel digested in spirit of
wine), and fife grains of gamboge in powder, the dose beisg
made stronger or weaker, according to the strength of the pa-
tient. Soon after taking this dose the patient is to drink tea,
and as soon as the physic begins to operate, if he percei? es that
the tenia is coming away, he is to remain on the close-stool till
it has entirely passed : if the purgative should prove too weak,
the patient is to take a dose of Epsom salts, and to drink freely
of broth. If the first dose of the fern powder and of the purging
medicine has not the desired effect, the powder and purge are
to be repeated next day : and if at any time the tenia b ob-
served to be coming away, the greatest care must be taken sot
to break it.

Bergins, in his Materia Medica, says that he has seen severa*
persons cured by these means ; that some of them had passed
one, and ethers two or three of these worms ; and he seems t*
think that where this medicine failed with people who realty had
the tenia, that it has been owing to its having been nnder-doje£

This is by do means anew remedy. Tbeophrastns mentions the
foot as employed to destroy the tape-worm, as well as Diosco*

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MALE PERU.

881

rides and Fragus. Spigelius relates that he taw the tape-worm
pass whole from a drachm of the root A decoction of the
whole plant may be used for tanning. The salt of this plant
from burning produces the best soap, sad finest glass* such as
we use for bottles. The leaves make thedryest and best litter
for horses and cows ; and e? en children have had beds made of
it It helps admirably to fill up in packages, being very dry,
for the conveyance of fruit ; and in times of scarcity bread has
been made of the root] and this is commonly given for swine,
who fatten on it

■ •

SPLEENWORT.

ASPLENIUM TRICHOMANES.

Clots XXIV. Cryptogamia. Order I. Filices.
Essent. Gew. Char. Fructification in straight scattered lines.
Spec. Char. Segments roundish, crenate.

DESCRIPTION.
A small plant, six or eight inches in height Leaves upright,
numerous, pinnated. The ribs are of a black colour. Pion* it
pairs, large, roundish, slightly toothed, sessile, about twenty
pairs to a leaf, gradually diminishing towards the top.
HISTORY.

Common in the country, and found usually on old walls urf
rocks in shady situations.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.

The ancients considered this as a laxative, and fixed upon two
drachms as a dose to clear away the black bile ; and Boerhu*
advises tp take one or two drachms of the juice of the spta»*
wort for the cure of hypochondriac affections, which general!/
proceed from inspissated mucus, or bile. Idiots are said to ksn
had their reason returned by occasionally employing this pint*

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HART'S. TONGUE.

ASPLENIUM SCOLOPENDRUM.

Class XXIII. Cryptogamia. Order I. FUices.
EssEirr. Gen. Char. Samp as the last.
Spec. Chab. Leaves simple, cordateMongue-shaped, entire : Stipe

often

DESCRIPTION.

JLeaves long, tongue-shaped, pointed, - entire,
long, of a shining green, waved at the margin.

HISTORY.
Common on shady rocks, old walls, and producing its
fication in August and September.

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
It has an astringent quality, and is often used made in
ment for burns and scalds, and for the piles; and has bee
internally, infused in red wine, in hfcmoptoe} diarrhoea,
sentery.

ASH-COLOURED LIVERWORT.

LICHEN CANINUS.

Clots XXIV. Cryptogamia. Order II. Algse.
BssEirr. Gen. Chab. Fructification in tubercles or shields inverted ia

their proper cortical receptacles, on a variously -formed and constructed

frond.
Spec. Char. Expanded, grayish ; whiter with brownish veins and naves

beneath : Lakes oblong, large, broader outwards ; fertile ones scattered,

marginal narrow : ShisUU perpendicular, revolute, roundish, i

tawny-rufous.

DESCRIPTION.

This lichen spreads on the ground, consisting of a leather-fife*

substance, ash-coioured, appearing as if covered with farina,

divided into lobes, beneath woolly, veined. Pelte round, or

oblong, terminal, hard, solid, ascending, of a reddish brow

colour.

HISTORY.

Found on heaths, dry pastures, and woods. ,

MEDICAL VIRTUE.
The pulvis antilyssns, a powder composed of equal parts of
this lichen and black pepper*, was first recommended as a pre-
servative against the rabies canina by Mr. Dam pier, brother of
the celebrated circumnavigator of that name ; and by die autho-
rity of Sir Hans Sloane it was published in the Philosophical
Transactions. This powder was afterwards adopted in ths
London Pharmacopoeia in 1721, at the desire of Dr. Mead.

• This was the original composition ; but the quantity of pepper render-
ing the medicine too hot, the powder was afterwards prepared of two
parts of the lichen and one of pepper.

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ERINGO-LEAVED LICHEN.

LICHEN ISLANDICUS.

Clou XXIV. Cryptogamia. Order II. Algae.
fitsBNT. Gem. Cbae. The same as the last.
Spec. Chae. Leaves greenish- chesnut, sinuate«laciniate, many-cleft, sef-

ments ascending, channelled, ciliate : Shield* nearly marginal, cbesnut,

slightly margined.

DESCRIPTION.

1 his lichen is foliaceous, large, the leaves crowded, connected
together, membranous, tough, variously divided into blunt
lobes, turning in at the edges, and fringed with short strong
bristles. The shields large, of a reddish brown colour on the
lobes of the leaves.

HISTORY.
Native of Britain, and found abundant on the mountains of
Wales and Scotland. This is a perennial lichen, very common
In Iceland, but also found in the forests and dry steril woods of
Switzerland and Germany, growing upon stones and on the
earth. It has dry coriaceous leaves, divided into lobes and la-
ciniae, whkh are again notched and subdivided* with elevated
margins beset with short, very minute, rigid, parallel hairs, and
marked with white spots, reddish towards the points. Amongst
the leaves are found peltated, somewhat excavated, shining,
wdd bodies, internally of * Wwii colour ; thesa axe thtferi-

886 EEINGO-LBATED LICHEW.

carpiums. When fresh, the colour ef this lichen is green**
yellow, or grayish brown ; but, when dried, greenish white, or
gray. In Sweden principally, and in Germany, a variety a
.found with smaller, tenderer, crisper leaves, destitute of hairs
on the margin, of a paler lead colour, orange beneath* It is
gathered in rainy weather, because it is then more easily de-
tached from the stones. In the countries where it abounds, it
is' used for the nourishment both of cattle and of man. Mr.
Proust has analysed it with much success. A pound of dry
lichen immersed in cold water soon resumed its fresh colour, |

and weighed two pounds two ounces, gave out a pale fawn co-
lour, but none of its bitterness. When previously powdered,
it gives out a bitter, pale, yellow juice, losing about three per
cdht. in cold, and six in boiling water. This bitterness resides
in an extractive which is employed in Iceland to dye a brown
colour. By boiling lichen a quarter of an hour, it becomes suC
ficiently tender for use as an esculent vegetable. Lichen cooked
in this manner has a kind of membranous elasticity, peculiar to
some of the algae and fungi ; and, after being dried, has only to
be moistened with boiling water to resume this elasticity. lis
appearance is not very prepossessing, having an unequal yellow
colour, and a slight marine taste. A pound of dry lichen by
bolting weighs three pounds, and when dried again is reduced
to two-thirds of a pound.

The decoction has a clear yellow colour, and a slightly bitter
taste, which, even when made with eight waters, on cooling
becomes a tremulous jelly, without any viscidity. This jelly on
standing contracts, expresses the water, cracks, and dries into
transparent angular fragments, of a deep red colour, insoluble
in cold water, soluble in boiling water, from which it is preci-
pitated by infusion of galls. By nitric acid it is converted into
oxalic acid. The insoluble part dissolves readily in nitric acid,
forming oxalate of lime and oxalic acid, and is converted into
a gelatinous pulp by potass.

According to this analysis, one hundred parts of dry lichen
give of

Bitter extractive ------ 3

Matter soluble in hot water - - 33
Matter insoluble in hot water - 64 — 100.

The last substance has much analogy with ginten, and the se-
cond with starch, particularly in the remarkable property of

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ERINGO-LEAVED LICHEN.

* being precipitated by infusion of galls. It differs from it, h

3 ever, in not being glutinous, aud in the solid matter of the j

contracting and separating from the fluid, as curd does i
t whey.

1 MEDICAL USE.

r From the analysis of this lichen it appears to consist pri

pally of a nutritious subs&nce, combined with a bitter ; am
the combination of these, its medical virtues probably dep

t It is used, according to Arnemann,

1. In cough with expectoration, threatening to terminal

2 consumption ; after neglected catarrhs, the consequence of ]
r pneumony, when the expectoration becomes more copious
i purulent

c 2. In emaciation from measles, (Schoenheide) ; from woi

and ulcers with great discharge, (Plenk) ; after salivation,

r from actual ulcers in the lungs, when there is no fever, (Scop

; especially after neglected colds, or from translated morbid i

ter. In a high degree of the disease it does little good, but
night sweats are diminished by it, (Millin). In pituitous pht

v it is of great service*

p 4. In haemoptysis, (Frize).

5. In chincough, (Tode).

f 6\ In diabetes, as a tonic and palliative remedy*

It is commonly exhibited in decoction with water, broth
milk, after the bitter has been extracted from it by steepi
in warm water ; or in substance, boiled in chocolate or cc

[ or made into a jelly with boiling water. Half an ounce, c

ounce, must be used daily, and continued for some time. Pi
disbelieves its specific virtues, but recommends it strongly i
article of diet in times of scarcity, and as a very convenient
scorbutic vegetable in long sea voyages.

Having become of late a very fashionable remedy, varioo
ferent modes of preparation have been invented, for whic
the bill of Mr. Hastings, a very ingenious chemist in the
market, who has been extremely assiduous in regard to thi
well as several other valuable articles in medicine.

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TOUCHWOOD, or AGARIC.

BOLETUS IGNIARIUS.

CbtsXXIV. Cryptogamuu Order IV. Foogi.
Embwt. Gem. Char. Ftmgut horizontal, beneath poroos.
Sfbc. Char. Without stem, powdery, smooth, with very fine pom.

DESCRIPTION.
This fungus is sessile, horizontal, consisting of a hard woody
substance like a horse's hoof; the upper side is smooth, bat
having circular markings, or ridges : the under side is flat) white,
yellowish, fall of minute pores.

HISTORY.
This fungus is frequently met with on different kinds of toel
in Britain, especially the cherry and plum ; and is said to hats
been sometimes brought into the shops mixed with the trot
agaric of the larch : from this it is easily distinguished, by it*
greater weight, dusky colour, and mucilaginous taste void of
bitterness. The medullary part of this fungus, beaten soft, tod
applied externally, has been much celebrated as a styptic ; tod
said to restrain not only venous but arterial haemorrhagies,
without the use of ligatures. Several English surgeons ha*
published cases in which the agaric was successfully used, ti
Sharp, Warner, Gooch, and others. It is best when gathered
in August or September.

THE END.

Painted by Richahd Taylor ana Co.

•HOI £ANX> J.ONWN.

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GENERAL INDEX.

^CBTATED Ceruse,Oiatment

Acetated Kali -

, Medical use

264
266

Acid of Benzoin - - 441
Aconite, Imp i seated Juice of 551
Adcoek, Mr. - 128

./Egyptian Mimora - - 862

Natural History 862-868

Agues, cause of 99
Agriculture of Wheat . - 80
Agrimony, Common - 470
-, its uses in Cutane-
ous Diseases ib.
Akenside, Dr. on Ipecacuan 786
Alkanet Root. See Bugloss, Dyer's
Alkanet. See Bugloss, Officinal
Allspice. See Pimento Water 480
Almond Tree - - - 471

Natural History 471-472

■■ Bitter,, poisonous

qualities - - - 472

* , Medical use 472-474

Emulsion - 475-864

Milk - - ib.

Oil ... 474

, culinary preparations 476 -,

Aloes and Assafoetida, Pills of 288
Aloes, Socotrine - - 344

-, Barbadoes, or Hepatic 345

-, Horse - 346

, Medical use 346-347

, Powder of, with Ceaella 347

, Prescriptions - 351

-, compound, Pills of 815

Aloetic Powder, with Guaiacum348
, with Iron ib.

Pills - - ib.

Alston, Professor, on the culti-
vation of the White Poppy,
and the obtaining of Opium
in Britain - 509

Ammonia, Linimeqt of - 20

, Fostid Spirit of 288

Anemony, Meadow, or Pasque

Flower - - - - 460
., Medical use - ik.

Angelica, Wild
Aniseed, compound Spirit

■ Water

Anise ...
Arabic Emulsion
Arbutus, Trailing
■ ' -, its use in Fluxes
Arnica, Mountain
— ,varioui

dical applications -
Artichoke

, its use in Drops

Arum, Common

-, Conserve. See Wak<

Asarabacca, common

■ ■■ , a powerful

cuation

■■ , Compound P<
Ash, Dr. on Foxglove
Ash, flowering

, Medical use

Assafoetida, Tincture of

, Emulsion of

, Plaster of

, Pills of

■ — , compound, Pi
. Asses' Milk, mock
Avens, common
— — , used as a substitut<

Chincona in Intermittent

vers -

BALM,
Balsam of <

of Gilead

' , Mr. Bruce'saccou
the Tree

, Medical virtues

, its use in Turkey
Barberry - - -

>Jam -

Bark Bread

common Peruvian

. * varieties -

' addtoetaXloaa -
^-^ CbeaAciV M*Vp*

890

GENERAL INDEX.

Bark, Medical uses - , - 121

, its various appellations 122

— — , its use in Intermittent* 122

—123

, forms of exhibiting it ,1?&*]26

, Red Peruvian 12T

,8altof - - - 128

, Preparations 128—133

, Tinctures and Extracts 130 .

—132

, Prescriptions 133—134

, Remarks on the Infusion of 134

and Lime Water used as a

ypnic ... 137

*Recjp« - - - 138,

Bark Tree, Vf inter's * 552--
and Canella .Alba com-
pared - - - 552—553

Barley

■» Hisjory and Medical
Virtues - - ^

-, Decoctions of

ib.
65

587

Basil, common

— r— , iq Green Sickness and

King's Efil, - - . ib.
Battard Pjittany. Sec White Fraxi-

Bear- Berry. Set Arbutus, Trailing
Beddoes, Dr., on Foxglove 601
Benjamin, or Benzoin Tree 440

Acid - 441

Flowers of - 442

— : compound Tincture of 443

Benzoic Acid^metbeds of sepa-
rating from Resin - - 449
gins, Dr. on Ipecacuan T37
uy Wood - . - .584
-, origin of the Proverb-
relative^ its .Virtues . ifr.
-Bile - - . 18

Bintfea . - - - ~ 218
Birthwoxt, Clka|>iag -748

it* .use in PUesaud

- 14fr

- 746

- 747

- 379

- 380.
614

Ffetulas
— — ., Long-rooted

, Medical use

Bistort, Greater .

— r— * Medical virtues

Black Mustard, common

~, in Canonic J>is~
- - - 615
Blood, Experiment of Laurel

Water on - - - 490
Blue Cardinal. Flower - T2&.
r-, use in toe*

Lues Venerea - - 728. '

Boerhaavc, Dr* , his account of

Saffron - - . - 41-

Bayse, Ann,, poisoned with

Laurel Water - ~ 402 -

Bran .... 99

Brathwaite Boughton, Sir Geo.

interesting case of - 667

Breads - IT

Brewing - 61

r Mashing - 67

, Tunning - - 78

, Fining H

Bsodie, Rev. P. B. on Cowhare6ti
Brookes, Dr. on the Hop SSI

Brook-lime fl

, History and Medi-
cal use - . . a
Broom, common - 611
, Dr. Callen on - 63
Brown, Dr. on Cowhage 696
Bftice, Mr. his acoount of the

Balm Tree . - 573

Buckthorn, Medical properties \»

, preparations 150 — 151

Bugle, Creeping . .5$

, its us* in Sore Throat* ft.

Bugloss, Dyer's - - 96

— , History % 96-97

Begloss, Officinal H6

> Madieaiuse 163-166

-, common - I6T

-1 , History - ICT-166

— -, virtues * - IB-
Burdock. - - - - - $16
Kuse n Chronic Da-
eases - - - 816
Burgundy PHcb Plaster, cos*.

ponnd - - 540—766

Batcher's Broom -.6)6

Baboo, Levage-leawed - 290

> Medical vistaes 91

Buck bean ... 96

> History - W-#

> Medical virtsmt 99-161

Backthorn . . - 1*

CABBA6E TREE,- Bastard at)
> Oflktf-

nal preparations - - &
Cajeput Tree - 6«

-, an Aromatic Oil &*

CalaiaimV - SJ6
Calamy, Cerate* of - *
Camomile, common - - ''*
, Flowers of, eiM-

bited - - - - 7»

Spanish - .- **

>use in Pains of ths

Head - - - W»

Camphor Tree - - &

■, Nat**ilH)i*ry<rfJ*
, Medical use - *

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GENERAL INDEX.

Camphor, its use when combin-
ed with other Medicines 387

-,Dose r - 38Q

tt-, Exhibitions. - 390

Camphorated Mixture - 391
Tincture of Opi- *

-urn . -. - i •« - . ihi

— -r. 1 EmnJs ion , - ikj

— : Acetic Acid 399

— i*j r Spirit of Wine t>-. ib.

Cancer in the £toa*t cared by

the Deadly. Nightshade .179

Cancers, whether cured by-Exj-

itract of Common Hemlock 319
Caaella, Laurel-leaved - 464

— -!-, Medical use-. - 46a

Caper Bush, common . - t 445
, Medical and Culinary

<nses .... 45ft

Caxraways .... 302;

-c — . ^, Spirit of - 303

Carbonate of Potash - 264

, Pare of Potash 262

— — — -, Medical use - 263
Cardamom - - -» »t» .5

Virtues

-> History and Medical

-, Tincture
-y enters into

several

^Compositions
Carrot, Wild

Garden

Cascarilla

»
.Croton

or Willow-leaved
Tincture and ResU

ib.
282
283
840

nous Extract of
Cassia, Egyptian
. . , Natural History
~, Medical use

807.
417

ib.
418
419

ib.

ib.
ib.

> i_ , Simple Infusion

— , Tartaric Infusion

— — , Infusion of, with Ta-
marinds - r ••- •
,, , Compound Tincture of
, j , Compqnod , Powder of 420

■ , Extract and Electuary
of . - . -,..-. - ib.
■ ■■> » Prescriptions - 421

Cassia, Puffing - - 423

— . , Natural History | 424

^Medical use and pre-
parations - - . 424 — 425
Castor Oil. See Palma Christi,

common
Catechu Mimosa •< «-
— — -, Medical use ••

■ , Electuary of
» ■ -, Tincture of -.».
— -, Proscriptions

Cathartics, on tl
Caustic Kali, w

— Ley. Set

Celandine, greai

■ — , Med

Centaury, small
— — , Chem

cal properties
Chamberlaine, A
Chambers on the
Chaste Tree
— , its

ins; the chastit
Cherry,- commoi
1 — , why it c

excluded frou

eopsaias
— — — Laurel

r- Medical

Chewing Tobaci
Chian, or Cypr

Tree -
Chinese. Smilax
Christmas Rose.

•bore .
Cinnamon Tree
— ~ — — , Natui

— , Medic

-, Wate

■ — , Tinct

■ , comp<
— » , Spirit

CJnqnefoil, com
an A

805 Cistus Cretan

Clove Tree
, Chemi

Clyster, Purging
Coffee Tree
. — , ace

the Arabian M
Coffee-houses
,prol

staotinople ■

introduction ii
he

into Europe ai

Coffee-tree, accc

ture ia Arabia

and drinking t

bians

v*ow to 1
•, Medical

S«

Colophony.
QeUsfooA

tot

General raDR*.

Coltsfoot, use in Scrophula 711
Columns., Fabius, cured of an
Epilepsy by the Valerian
Root 35

Congo Tree ... 220

Contrayerva 89

— , History - ik.

Contrayerva, Medical use - 90

, Preparations 91

Convicts, affecting narrative of

several Scorbutic - 663

CopaivaTree - - 438

— , Nat oral History t*.

~ , Medical Virtues 439

Coriander ... 294

, Medical Virtues 895

Corn Poppy ... 534

Cowhage

-, Preparations 534-536

Mr. Chamberlain's

634

account of its Medical Vir-
tues .... QS5

1 ■ , mode of administer-

ing it . - - 637

-, its use asa Vermifuge 640

Lozenges « 641

, its property of causing

Itching - - - 642

*-, testimonials in favor

643

Core, Rev. W. on the Christi-
ana Deal ... 800
Crack Willow - 8S9
Cress, Greater Indian - 377

, Virtues - 378

Crowfoot, Upright Meadow 561

, Medical uses - ib.

Cubebs .... 31
Cucumber, Bitter - - 818

-, History and Dose 812

—813

■ ■■ ■ ■ -, compound Extract of 814

Cullen, Dr. on Sugar - 60

, on the useaf Guai-

acum in a Spirituous Tinc-
ture 431

, on the Hop - 826

Currant, Black - 155

, Medical Virtues 155-156

— , Wine, Jelly, and Sy-
rup .... 156

, Red - - 152

Wine - - 153

Jelly - 158—154

DEMONIACS, ancient - 671
Damask Rose - 498

— , Natural History 498

Dandelion ... 676

Dandelion, use in liver com-
plaints . - m
Darma, a famous Chinesesatnt SI
Davis, Mr. Thomas, on thetha-
ber yielded by various spe-
cies of Pines - TO
Davis, Mr. See Rhubarb.
Deal, Christiana -- - 860
Dick, Sir Alexander - 404
Dick, Sir John. See Rhubarb 4»
Dimsdale's Powder - *tt
Distillation for Volatile Oils 544
Dittany of Crete - - 561
DogRose ... 549

, Medical Virtue ft.

Dragon's Blood Tree - 355

— , Medical aseStf

Dragon's Blood. See Red Sander1!

Tree
Drake, Dr. on Foxglove 5M

Dried Carbonate of Soda 271

, Medical me ft.

Duncan, Mr. W. his testimonial
relative to the Opium of Mr.
T.Jones ... 581
Dwarf Elder - - - 381
, Medical Virtues 327

B.
BATON, Frances, nearly poi-
soned by Laurel Water 192
Edwards, Bryan, on Sugar 59
Elaterium - - - 81!
Elder . - 323

-, Rob ... 384

Ointment ft.

Wine - - 385

Flower Wine - 326

Elecampane. See Inule, common
Electuary of Scammony - 105
Elm, common - -241
* Bark of, good in the Le-
prosy - - - 212
Emulsion of Gum Ammoniac 285*

of Assafoetida - 28T

Enema, Foetid - - 28T

— , Opiate - - 298

Eringo-leaved Lichen - 885

, Medical eseWT

Essences, Fragrant; method of

obtaining from oranges, &c. 6B
Essentia] Oil of Scotch Fir 788-7JT
Ethereal Tincture of Aloes 350
Eyebright, common - S88
, its use for the Eyes ft.

F.
FAITH, powerful in the care

of Diseases - - - 9T
Falconer, Dr. See Rhubarb
Fennel, Gigantic 8®

Digitized by

Google

GENERAL INDEX,

893

.Fennel, Medical use - 286

, Preparations - ib.

Fennel, Sweet - - 308

, Medical virtues 309

Fenugreek ... 653

Ferrier, Dr. on Foxglove 600
Fever^ See Bark
Fig-tree, common
-, History

876
87*
435
355
354
330

Fits in Children
•Flag, Sweet

, Medical Virtue

Flax

, bow to dress it so as to

look like Silk - - 333

Flower, Dr. on the core of

Consumption - - 598

Foetid Hellebore, its Decoction

used for expelling the round

Worms . - 558

, Tincture ib.

Fordyce, Sic William. See Rhubarb
Fothergill, Dr. bis successful

use of oil in Putrid Fever 17
Foxglove - - - 590

, Parkinson on - 591

, Gerard on - 592

, Rayon - - ib,

, Salmon on - 593

-, in inflammatory dis-.

-, in active Haemorr-
hages, &c. -

-, letter to Dr. Beddoes

594
ib.

on the use of it in Pulmonary
Consumptions - - 594

, Dr. Flower on 598

, cases of its use in

Consumption^ 596,597, 600, 601
600
602
599
601

-, Dr. Ferrier on

, Dr. Withering on

, Dr. Darwin on

, Dr. Beddoes on

•, in Anasarcous and

Dropsical Effusions

>, Dr. Ash on

-, in Palpitation of the

Heart, Aneurism, and Hydro-
cephalus - - t -

, in Mania, &c.

-, Infusion and Decoc-

tion of

, Tincture of
-, Prescription

605

605
606

ib.
607

ib.
432
433

Fraxinella, White

, Medical Virtues

Freake, Mr. on the Hop 819—824
Frontiniac, English - 326
Fumitory, common - 627
-, Dr. Cullen on n%

G.
GARDEN Carrot - - 283
Galand, Mr. his account of the
Coffee-bouses in Constanti-
nople - 202
Gal ban um, Tincture of 292

, Plaster - ib.

, Prescription 293

Garlic, common, cultivated 341
— — , Medical and general

use - .341

Galls, Oaks - - - 768

Garencieres, Dr. his account of

Sugar - - - 50

Gemander, Water - 586

, Medical Virtues ib.

243
244

Gentian, Yellow

-, Root of, its use

, Extract of, and Bitter

Infusion

, Compound Infusion

■ ■, Compound Wine of
-, Preparations

Gentian, Purple
Geoffroy, M. on Ipecacuan
Gerard on Foxglove -
Gesner, Conrad
Gesner, on White Hellebore
Gin ....

Ginger, Narrow-leaved

, History

, Kinds

, Medical uses

, Syrup of

, Tincture1 of

, Preparations

, Preserved

, Wine

Ginseng

, Medical use

245
246
246
247
248
736
592
179
856
848
1
2

ib.
3

ib.

ib.
4

ib.
874
875

Glanders in Horses, experiment

of the use of Laurel- water in 489
Glass, formed out of Potash and

Flint
Glauber's Salt

Goat's Thorn, or Milk Vetch
-, Medical use

Goose Grass

-, Medical Virtues

Goose-foot, Stinking
— — , Medical use

253
274
654
655
94
95
239

- 240

- 704
695—700

Salt of

703

Gout, cause of

, cured by Moxa

, cured by the

Harts'-horn

, cured by violent exercise ib.

, cured by rubbing - 704

: — -, cured by the stings of

Nettles - - - «•*

^ S#eOmcVnaVGua\ac\im

694

*m - .. : i

Gout, cured by the Oil of Cam-
phor •- - - 386
primes, Mr. See Foxglove
Cromwell, common - 168
« ■*' , Hbtory, and Medi-
cal ose - - 1 164
Ground Ivy ... S/T2
Ray*s acconnt of

GENERAL INDEX

Mr. Oldacre, cored of an in-
veterate Head-acb by

Cmaiacnm Officinal

Guaiacnm Officinal, Natural

" History ...

«-, its use in Rheuma-

tisms, Gout, &c.

-* , Tinctore of

' Ammoniatcd

tore of

-1 — - — , Compound
tionof

Tinc-

Decoc-

426

487

428
429

ib.

430

ib.

863

j Prescriptions
Gum Arabic, Mucilage of

H.
HABIT, the power of, unequal 194
Bart's Tongae ' - - 883

Haygarth, Dr. his advertise- ' "
. ment respecting the Thorn-
apple - "' - ' - 18T
Hedge Hyssop ... S3

i , History - 24

, Powers and uses 24

—26
Hedge Mustard - - 621

•^ '• , its use in Conghs ib.

Hellebore, Black - * 554

cal use

History and Medi-

-, Tincture of
, Prescriptions

555
556
ib.

Hellebore, White, or Veratrum 856

■^-^ ~, Prescription - 859

Hemlock Waters Drop wort 312
, affecting instances of
its poisonous qualities 313

-Water - - 315

— , a dreadful poison 316

— , common - - 317

— — .Dr.Stoerck'sExtract '
of - - - - 318

■ Inspissated Juice of 321

ffcabane - - -. I81

•*•— — •— , instances of its poi-
sonous effects - r - 182

~- , beneficial effects of 183

Hildyard, Rev. John. See Foxglove
IIoHy - - - - 280

HolyThUtle . - - 724
}kmt9 Dr. on Madder - 85
fioaey of Rotes - - 496

Honey of Squills • -OS
*Hop, Natural History - 8fe

< , most convenient way of

picking * - " - - 817

, Medical Virtues - 8W

— ■ — , -various accounts of its
medical virtues - 819-886

, Extract of - 8»

-Hops .... 07

Horehound, ; common - W

"■ ' ■ ,its use hi Consump-
tions - - - ~- 574

— — Candied - ft.

Horse Chesnut - - 361

' — , Medical Virtue 388

Horse -Raddish - - 612

■ JiLj — '. compound Spirit

of t - - - 613

Hume, Mr. bis account of the

number of poisons at Rome 278
Hungarian Balsam 773

Hydrophobia . - 16

Hyson Tea - - 818

- I.

INDIAN Pink - - HK

•^ > , Its efficacy against

Worms j - HB-1M

Indian-Rubber - - 888

— ' , Indians make

boots of H *.

Intnsion of Rhubarb - 413

Ink, how to matte - 1®

Inula, common, - - 118

Ipecacuan - T33

— , Varieties 7»-7ffl

— = , its use in a variety

of complaints" -' * 734

—^, its use as an Emetic 735

*"■■ ' , modes in-wWeh It

is exhibited i ' ^ 731

— ^-, Wine of - T38

— , PdWder of, and

Opium *. - » n\

f — , Prescriptions 739

Iris, Florentine • . 43

^— *-, History ± - *

, Medical Virtues - 44

Italian proverb concerning Fox-
• glove . - - • - &

JALAP, Bindweed -
, History

— , Medical uses

— — , Tincture of
Jam, RaspbeVry * -
James' King, his letter respect-

tngSilk - - W-T»
Jodes, Mr. his letter to tat

110
&
11)

60S

Digitized by

Google

CfctftfRAL ftfDEX

iPresident for the encourage- *
ment of Agriculture. See
Rhubarb ... 407

3ooes, Mr. hi* letter to the Pre-
sident of the Society for the
Encouragement of Arts, &c.
on the cultivation of Poppy 518

— , his description of

instruments used in the scari-
fication of Poppy 516—517
-Juices of Succulent Plants 609
•Juniper .... 845

Berries - - 846

— , compound Spirit of 847

— , Lycian - - 849

KALI, Pure ... $60

, Water of - - 257

, Medical use - - $60

, Lime with - . 261

— — , Caustic with Lhne - ib.

, Prepared - - 261

— , Water of Sab-Carbonate
of .... 26J

, Acetated - 264

, Titriolated - 267

, Tartar! zed - - 270

Kernels of Stone Pine - 791
Kerr, Mr. his account of the
manner of collect! nfc the
White Poppy in the East 509
Koempferia, Round; - - 8
, History, and Me-
dical Virtues - - §
- , Cordial Confection 10

LAUDANUM Plaiter, common 540

—781

Ladies-smock, common 619

, Medical Use 620

Lamp Black - - - 795
Langrish, Dr. See Cherry Laurel
Larch, common White - 772

, place of growth 8KJ

La f ken, Mr. his letter to Dr.

Lettsom on Tea - 23 1— 281
Latham, Dr. on the Hop - 820
Laurel Water, various experi-
ments with - * 468

, poisonous effects

of ... 491—492

Lavender ... J&82

58S

ib.

, Spirit of - -

, compound Spirit of

Water

Lawrence, Mr. O. E. on the

English Opium
Lemon ....

Lemon, Mcdi*

juice
— — Juice,

Peel, c

■ Puddii

-, how t<

582
661

Leprosy, cure*
. Elm

iLettsom, Dr. <
Lettuce, Wild

— , use in

Lewis, Dr. on

-, on

Lily, White

, Medical '

Lime Water, c
Linseed

, its use

Linseed Oil
Liquorice, com

, Exti

— , Tro<

■ Troch

Lister, Di\ See
Liverwort, Ash
Logwood

, Medi

Lungwort, comi
— , Histo

use
Lungs, decayed

use of Sugar

MACE, express
Madden, Dr. St
Madder, Dyer's

-, Histor

-, Medica
j its effe<

the bones
Mahogany Tree
— — , Histo

cal Virtues
Malt

Male Fern
, used

Worms -
Mandrake
■ , supers

respecting
Mania, how far <

phor
Marjoram, Wild

• , Sweei

, Oil of

ach
MarriSjMr. See
ftarshmattow

Q9fi

GENERAL INDEX. *

Marshmallow, Decoction and

Syrup of - - - 626

Martyn, Professor, on Water

Cresses - - - - 617
Masterwort, common - 298

: , Virtues - - 299

Mastich Tree ... 838

— , commonly chewed

by the Turkish women 899

Meton, Dr. on the Hop - 828
Mault, Mr. on the method of

curing the Orchis-root - 741
Mayo, Dr. John, on the Hop 820
Mercury, action of, moderated

by Camphor ... 388
Mezereon ... 359

, deleterious qualities
" * 370

ib.
371
832
833

of the Berries

, Medical Virtues

-, Prescriptions

Mistletoe

, Medical Virtue

Monro, Dr. Don. on Ipecacuan 735
Moseley, Dr. on Sugar - 63
Motherby, Dr. on the Hop 826
Moxa, Preparation of - 691
, extract from Sir William

Temple on 692
-, Sir W. Temple's mode

of using - . -700

Mucilage of Quince Seeds 494

Mugho Pine, the - 796

Mugwort - - 690

• , use in Hysteric Fits 691

Mulberry, common - - 755

• , History - 755—760

, two kinds of - 758

Mulberries, Syrup of - 761

Mullein, great Broad-leaved 237

, Medical use - 238

Mustard Cataplasm - 615

231
274
275
753
754
141

N.
NASH, Mr. killed by smelling

to different kinds of Tea
Natron, Vitriolated
, Tartarized
Nettle, common

Broth, good in Scurry

Nightshade, Woody -
, History and Medi-
cal use - - 149—143
Nightshade, Deadly - . 176

, a fatal poison 177

, Medical Virtues 177

—180

, curious instance of

the effect of - - - 177
Norway Spruce Fir-tree 778

« u 1 u History 778-780

Nutmeg l>ee
■ History

Volatile Oil of

-, Spirit of

- 04
834-43*

a*.
...-_- -836

Nut, Vomic 169

— — '-=—, its use in the de-
struction of Rats, &c. - 170

OAK, common - . 703

Saw-dust, used in dyeing 763

Bark, used in fanning ft.

Medical Virtue - 767

— Prescriptions ?6f

Bark, substitute for - 766

Oat, cultivated 81

— , History - - - a.

, Medical use - - 82

Oil, its use in the bite of a Vi-
per i5
— , its effects in Hydrophobia

and the Plague - 16 17

— , its effects in Putrid Fever 17
— -, its use in Dropsy - 18

— --, Preparations - - ».
Oil produced from Grape-stones

in Italy - - - 16D

— -, Linseed - 331

Oldacre, Mr. See Ground Ivy
Olive, European - - IS

, History - - «.

— , Medical use - - 14

——on - - - «.

Onion, common - . 343

, Medical use - - 0.

> Sea - - - 334
— — , Medical use - 335

Opiate, or Thebaic Pills - 445
Opiate Electuary - . 530
Opium, combined with Cam-
phor - 3gg
— , Pills of - 445
— — , generally corrupted
with cow-dung. See Poppy,
White 509
— -, English - - *fr.

, Turkey - . s&

■■' ■ , East Indian - &,

, Narcotic Virtues - 524

— , Purified - - S3B
■ ' , Tincture of - «*.

, Ammoniated Tincture 589

Pills, Watery Extract,

and Opiate Powder . £*.
', Confection of - 530
* , * table showing the

proportion of, in some coat-
pound Medicines
' ■ , Prescriptions. See Pop-
py, White. - . 531-539

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Jfe^of

W^eJ^^1^^

"•^sa

i"e Wo,

*«&£ *§&

'Use

io*»«ed

SO?

*«»»f01. «*

ore

cCf**

'"•■one,

*-^5?*

e<"r0

*'*orv

ca/ V/J

£ft

^uaj

on,

W«4

for

£*W#i

of J

i"onP«. '**orv «in

*ith

s*-sa

: ***

to.

to. 1
Hi

_ > Ptlr+ r**1* Of - gu^

— » pur* Ca r

"«Wl

^dor;?^*.

Jin

'*««<,

*of

>of *

» on

594
595

Digitized by VjOOQlC

88*

GBNBRAL JUDEX.

procreation, prov oontives to '609
>Prune, common, or Plum-tree 484
>■ v their opening qualities 486

QUASSIA, fitter - • 447

■ , its use io Fevers 448
Quassia, Sunaniba - • 440

, Medical use - 450

guince Pudding - - 494

i ■ Tree, common - 499
*'■' , Officinal and Culinary

preparations - 494

R.
AAISINS ... 158

Raspberry Bush - - 501

■ ■ ■ - Syrup of - -508
*» 4 — Jam, Dunptiogs,

Tarts, and Cream #*.

Rats, how to destroy - 110

Rattlesnake Root, or Milkwort 6*9
Ray, on Sugar 52

— -, en Foxglove - -. 598
Red Popples, Syrup of - 585
, Prescriptions 536
Red Saunders Tree - - 450
* ■ - i i «- !■ »> produces

Dragon's Blood - - ».
Resin, Yellow - - 78T

-^ — -, common - - 790

-, Black - t*.

, Liquid - 796

Rhododrndioo, Yellow-flower-
ed . 456

-, Medical use 457

Rheumatism. See Officinal Guai-

acum
Rhubarb ... 402
, History of its intro-
duction into England - 40S
■» Medical use - 41S

Wine - - 414

" », Tincture - - a*.

' , compound Tincture 415

■■■ , Tincture of, with

Aloes t*.

, Tincture of, with

Gentian - - - ib.

, compound Pills of 416

■ -, Masons for cultivat-
ing it in Britain - 404

RochelleSalt - - - 975*
Rome, number of Poisons in 978
Rosemary, common 27
■ ■■-, History and Medi-
cal use - - - - SO
— , Spirit of - - 99
..Oil of - , 10,
Rose, Red Officinal - 405

Rose Water

- 41

— , Prescriptions -

- w.

Roses, Conserve of

. m

-, -Infusions of

- 4M

•, Honey of

- #.

Rue, common

- 4M

— , its use in the FttsdTCkH-

.dren ...

- 431

Aussel, Lord WiHiam. S« Tonus*

til

SACREB Tincture -

- so

Saffron ...

. 38

— — — , History

88-46

- , Medical use

«■ ,8yrop -

. tt

Saffron Walden, way vocaHed »

Saffron, common Meadow

, Medical Virtues -

, Osrymel of

Salep. See Orchis, Male
Salmon on Foxglove
Salt of Tartar -
Saltwort, Prickly. See Potash
Sarsaparilla ...
Sarsaparilla, Decoction of
Sassafras Tree ...
, Volatile OH of

361

841
MS

375

Sauce Atone, or Stinking Hedje

Mustard - . - #8
Saunders, White - - 9i
, History - *.
, Medical Vir-
tues . . - - §5
Savin, common - - 8M

-i , Extract of - - 8W

-, Ointment *.

Saxifrage - 4»

— — , Medical Virtue »*.

, Small 3M

, Medical Virtues u\

Scammony Bindweed • M6

■ , History - - 1*

, is a strong Fuiaa

t^e , . . Mi-WJ

,Dose - - M

— -, good in Dropsy H*
, Preparations 108-W

, Powders of 108-MO

Scotch Fir ' - * 12

•— , place of growth a*
Scurry-grass, common - JJJ
- , compound Juke of «•
Scurvy, on the use of Lemon-

juice in - . - fm

SeaEryngo. Sew Holly
Sea Wormwood " ~

Seneka, Decoctlonnf. *» RnV
tlesnakoRoot • * W

Digitized by VjOOQIC

GENERAL INDEX.

Senna. See Cassia, Egyptian 417

Sequin, Turkish - '- 202

8erinchamps,.M. - - T01

Sherry - - - - 158

Silk and Silk-worms - 756

Silk, manufacture of - 757

Silver Fir-tree - ' - - YT6

1111 , use in Scunry 777
-, place of growth 800

Simples, English*
Single Tea -
Sloes, Conserve of
Sloe-tree -

Smoking Tobacco
Snakeweed -

"-*- , Medical Virtues

Snake-root - - -

-, Tincture of

487
219
483
482
196
379
S80
T4S
744
194
$»

Snuff-taking

Soap, on the formation of -

Soap Liniment, compound 393

, Tincture of - ' - ib.

, Prescriptions - 393—394

Soapwort -■ - - 4^9
, its use in the Vcne- '

real Disease "-" - '- 469
Soda, Natural History of - $53

, Properties of '- - 254

, method of Obtaining 254—255

:, method of distinguishing

' it from Potash ' - - 255

•, dried Carbonate of - 271

, Phosphate of - 271—273

, Sulphate of - 274

: , Tartrate of, and Kali 275

Solution of Super-Carbonate of
*" Potash .... 263

— J i , Medical use 264

Sorrel, common - '- 366

Souchong Tea ... 219
Southernwood - 686

-'■ •> ■ , Decoction of,

for Fomentations -*" - 087

Spanish Flies, compound Plais-
ter of - - - " -

Spearmint ...

—^ , Distilled Water

, Spirit of, and Vola-
tile Oil of

615

562
5G3

ib.
-, compound Infusion of 5$$
Spermaceti - - - 1'9

Spleen wort ... 882

Spruce, place of growth of 800
Sprucfc Beer, how to make 7$)
^' Wine, how to make 782

Squills - - - - 335

, Conserves of - it.

, Tincture of - 33o*

— , Honey, &c. of - igm

~ , drying of . - 3S7

Squills, dried Sei

, Pills

, Prescrip

Squire, Dr. on C

St. Anthony's F

of Laurel Wat

Starch

-, Mucilage
Staresacre. See I
St. John's Wort,

" *

in expelling th
St6erck,'Dr.5ce
Stone Pine

Kernels

Stone, Dr.pn th<
Storax, Officinal
— — , Purified

, Pills of

Succory, Wild
■ , use jn
structions*
Sugar-cane
*■' " -, Chem

Sugar-cane, Med

'• , Hise

1 Syn

, Bee

Sulphate of Soda

Surnack, ^lm-lej
1 — , Media

Swallow-wort

, aj

Poison
Sweet Bay, com

., #atu

Syrup of Clove, .

^ ^— Colcbic

' Rasp be

— — Squills

TAMARIND Tr

— — , in Sort

Tanning, process

Tansy, common

, use in Gi

', Pudding

Tar Water, how

-, its usi

Tar Ointment

~ , process of it

«— , a Medicine
tartar, Salt of

, Vitrioia^

Tartar! *ed Kali

*00

GENERAL INDEX.

Tartrate of Soda and Kali

■ ■ I Medical use

275
276
476
215

Tarts, Green Almond

Tea '- - - - . -

— -, on the two kinds of Green .

and Black ' - - - 216
— , general description of the

tree ... 217

— , Green - - i 218

'— , Bohea ... 219

— , of Japan ... 224
— , supposed miraculous ori-
gin of - - • - ib.
— , manufacture of • - 225
— -, but one species of - 296
— -, why first used in Infusion 228
—284
—, manner of using in China

and Japan ... 220
— , virtues of 230

— , quantity of, imported' into

Europe .... 296
Temperance the best cure for

the Gout ... 706

Temple, Sir William, on Moxa 692

Thorn Apple ... 186

-, a Narcotic Poison 187

■ -, Medical Virtues 188

—190
Hiornton Dr. his letter to Mr.

Ghamberlaine, on Cowhage 643
Thyme, Mother of - - 577
— — , common garden - 578
Tobacco .... 190
% History and introduc-
tion of, into Britain - 191

, Medical Virtues 191—194

Tolu Tree, Balsam of .436

-, Tincture of - 437
■ , Syrub - - ib.
Tooth-ach, Cured by Moxa 702
Tormentil, common . . 503
— — -, its virtues as an As-
tringent ... 504

-, account of its efficacy
in various diseases, by a poor
man • - - ib.

Touchwood, or Agaric - 888
Tragacanth, Mucilage of Gum 655

">■ , Mucilage of ib.

, compound Pow-
der of. See Goat's Thorn 656
Treacle .... 49
Tunky. See Single Tea
Turmeric, Long-rooted - 11

. , History ib.

, Medical uses - 12

Turpentine, Venice - - 773

' , common - tb.

-,- r, Oil of - - 775

Turpentine, Rectified Oil of ??»

, '■ , Prescriptions aft.

Turpentines, their Medical use 774

U.
UNDERWOOD, Dr. on Cow-

hage .... 646
Upright Virgin's Bower - 559
- , its use in

Ulcers, &c. - • - A.

V.
VALERIAN, WUd - 34

■ , History and Medici.

naluse ... 35—37
— — — , Tincture of - 37
Venn, Mr. on Tea - - 233
Vine, common - - .151

, History - 157—158

Vinegar of Squills - 336—537

Violet, 8weet ... 728

, Syrup of the Flowers 729

, Culinary preparation ■*.

Vitriolated Kali - 267

_ , Medical use 268

Volatile Oils - 501

, on distillation
for - - - . 5«4

, bow to be pre-
served after distillation - 56T
Volatile Alkali , Foetid Spirit of 288

W.
WAKE-ROBIN - - 750
* — -, its use in Rheu-
matic Pains . - .751
Wall Pellitory - . 860

, its use as a Diu-
retic -' - - 860-861
Wall-Stone Crop, or Wall Pep.
per - - - 463

-, its use in Scor-

butic Humours
Walnut-tree, common
Wood

776
771

430
617

Walnuts, how to Dickie
Water, compound Lime
Water Cresses -

, Medical Virtues 618
Water Dock ... 364

, Medical Virtues 365

Water-Hemlock, fine-leaved 310

, Medical Virtues 31 1

Water-Parsnip, creeping 296
- ■ ■ -, good in Cuta-
neous Eruptions - - 297
Water of Potash - - W
Pure Kali - - 257

■ Prepared Kali - 26*

■ Sub-Carbonate of Kali *.

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GENERAL INDEX,

Water of Oxymuriatic Alkaline 869
Water Speedwell. See Brook lime
Water Trefoil. See Buckbean
Wax Ointment ... 18
Waybread. See Plantain
Whaley, Mary, poisoned with

Unrel Water - 498

Wheat, Winter ... 76

Flour - . 76— -77

, Medical use - - 79
White Briony Root - 887

, Medical Virtue 888

White Poppies, Syrup of 684— 535
White Spruce Beer, how to

make .... 788
Wild, or Squirting Cucumber 809
-, Inspissated

Juice of
Willis, on Sugar
Willow, Crock

, common White
, Almond-leaved *
— — -, Bag-leaved

Great Round-leaved

816

889

830

ib.

881

ib.

S51

S85

158

414

159

Wine of Aloes -

Wine, Elder - - .

, Raisin -

— , Rhubarb
Wines, various -
Withering, Dr. on the Bear-
Berry .... 453
, on Foxglove 608
—604
Wolf s-Bane, or Monk's Hood 549

Wolfs- Bane,
Wood-Sorrel

Woodville, D
poisonous el
Apple

Mr. Jones,
produced f
juice of Wh

Wormseed

-,mo

Wormwood

uses

-, ii

Worms. See C
Wounds, kept

by Sugar
Wright, Mr. oi
Wright, Dr.

Cabbage-tre

YARROW, cc

■ >■, use ii

Yellow Rosin,
Yellow Water

account of i(

ZULICHEM,
See Gout and

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