26l 



5 



of til e efficacy of Juniper berries in many hydropical alTedions, 

 we have various relations by phyficians of great authority, as D 

 Verney, Hoffman, Boerhaave, and his" iliuftrious commentator,. 

 Baron VanSwieten, &c. Authors however feem not to be perfedly 

 agreed which preparation of the Juniper is moft efhcacious, many pre- 

 fer the rob or infpiffated decod:ioni but Dr. Cullcn obferves,* that this- 

 is an inert medicine, alleging that the eiTeritial oil muft be almoft= 



ly diffipated by the boiling;^ for to this oil, which is much: 



the fame as that of turpentine, only of a more agreeable odour, he 



y 



thinks all the virtues afcribed to the different parts "of Juniper are to,- 

 be referred. Hoffman, on the contrary, flrongly recommends the 

 rob, and declares it to be of great ufe in debility of the ftomach and 

 intefiines ; and he experienced it to be particularly ferviceable to fuch., 

 old people as are fubje(5t to thefe diforders, or labour under a diiEculty 

 with regard to the urinary excretion ; from hence it appears, that the 

 berries ftill retain medicinal powers, though deprived of the flimu- 

 lating effeds of the efTential oil.*^ But as the Juniper is now feldom- 

 if ever relied upon for the cure of droplies, and only called to the 

 aid of more powerful remedies, it is-juftly obferved by a modern 

 author, that " perhaps one of the beft forms under which the. berries 

 can be ufed is that of a fimple infufion. This either by itfelf, or with 

 the addition of a little gin, is a very ufeful drink for hydropic patients.' 

 Medical writers have alfo fpoken of the utility of Juniper in nephritic 

 cafes, uterine obflrudions, fcorbutic affedions, and fome cutaneous 

 difeafes, and in the two laft mentioned complaints, the wood and tops 



^ 



e 



of the plant are faid to have been employed with more advantag 



the b 



We are told by Linnseus,^ that the Laplanders drink infufions of 

 the Juniper berries as we do tea and coffee, and that the Swedes pre- 



* A^. M. vol. a. p 



i 



J 



fm 



Jump, ifeii. add. fpirit. bacc. Junip. lii. Q^iandoque fpiritus nitri dulcis \k ad 



ftt'un fcdandaavadditur. Comment, in Boerh. aph.T. 4. p. 258. Of this mixture one or 



two ounces were given every three hours. ^ Duncan A^t?z;c; Ed. Dtjpenj. p 



bf ft 



Bacca 



dluretica, nutriensj diaphoretica." M. M. p. ?>io, 



e Flor, Lapp. p. 301. They are likewife known to afford a pleafant wine. See^ Du 



Hamej, ./fr^m, T.i.p./Z2S 



pare 



V 





