289 



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. Linnaeus firft fuppofed this plant to be a Lomcera, orHoney-fuckl ^ 

 but afterwards he afcertained its characters, and called it Spigeiia, in 

 honour of the botanifl Spigehus, whofe firft work was publiflied ii 



1606.* 



Two fpecies of Spigeiia are now know^n to botanifts, viz. S. An 

 thelmia and marilandica ; they have both been ufed as anthelmintics 



fFedls of the former are noticed by Dr. Browne in the G 



man's Magazinine for the year 1751, and in his Hiilory of J 



maica;' alfo by Dr. Bocklefby,'' and feveral foreign waiters. But thf 



of the vermifuge virtues of Spigeiia, given by'Drs. Linning 



and Garden,'^ from Charleftown, South Carolina, evidently refer 

 the latter fpecies, which is here fip;ured ; and as the anthelmintic 



efficacy refides chiefly in the root of the plant, that of the Anthelmia, 

 or Annual Spigeiia, which is very fmall, mufl be incomparably lefs 

 powerful than the root of the marilandica, which is perennial. Dr. 

 Garden, in his firfl letter to Dr. Hope, which was written about the 



year 1763, fays, " About forty years ago, the anthelmintic virtues 



c 



( 



I 



I 



of the root of this plant were difcovered by the Indians ; fmce 

 which time it has been much ufed here by phyficians, praditioners, 

 and planters ; yet its true dofe is not generally afcertained. I have 

 given it in hundreds of cafes, and have been very 



c 



( 



c 



( 



( 



( 



( 



ffeds. I never found it do much fervice, except when it proved 

 gently purgative. Its purgative quality naturally led me to give it 

 in febrile difeafes, which feemed to. arife from vifcidity in the 

 prima via ; and, in thefe cafes, it fucceeded to admiration, even 

 when the fick did not void worms. 



" I have of late, previous to the ufe of the Indian Pink, given a 

 vomit, when the circumftances of the cafe permitted it ; and I 

 have found this method anfwer fo well, that I think a vomit fhould 

 never be omitted. I have known half a dram of this root purge 

 as brifkly as the fame quantity of rhubarb ; at other times I have 

 known it, though given in large quantities, produce no effedl upon 

 the belly : in fuch cafes, it becomes neceffary to add a grain or two 



a 



P. 156. 



* Dec. &-Med. ObJervatlonSj p 



Ifag 



/ 



See EJ, ^ Obferv. Phyf.cal i^ Literary, vol u p. 386, ^ L, c. 



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of 



