323 



<^ 



■v 



1^ 



efficacious than the white, and is therefore ftlll preferred for med 



ufe :' it is to the tafte very naufeous, intenfely bitter, and acrimor 

 but without any perceptibi 



fin el I 



Wat 



er, wine, proof 



and reaified fpirit, extrad the virtues both of the frefh and the dry 



root. 



Nothing 



in diftillation with any of thefe menftrua 



th 



; bitternefs and pungency of the Squill remaining concentrated 

 in the infpiflated extrads : the fpirituous extrad is in fmaller quantity 

 than the watery, and of a proportionably ftronger almoil fiery tafte/' 



« Alkalines confiderably abate both the bitternefs and acrimony of 

 the Squill : vegetable acids make little akeration in either, though the 

 admixture of the acid tafte renders that of the Squill more fupport- 

 able. Thefe acids extrad its virtue equally with watery or fpirituous 

 tnenftrua. . 



The root of the Squill, which appears to have been known as a 

 medicine in the early ages of Greece,'* and has fo well maintained its 

 charader ever ftnce, as to be defervedly in great eftimation^ and of very 

 frequent ufe at this time, feems to manifeft a poifonous quality to 

 feveral animals. In proof of this, we have the teftimonies of Hillefeild/ 



Bergius, Vog( 

 mueh handled 



s 



d others. Its acrimony is fo great th 



the fkin ; and if g 



if 



■g 



4 



^•i^ 



dofes 



and frequently repeated, it not only excites naufea, tormina, and violent 

 yomidngs, but it has been known to produce ftrangury, bloody urine, 

 hypercatharfis, cardialgia, haemorrhoids, convulfions, with fatal inflam- 

 madon and gangrene of the ftomach and bowels.** But as many of 

 the more adive articles of the materia m.edica, by injudicious admi- 

 niftration, become equally deleterious, thefe efieds of the Scilla do not 

 derogate from its medicinal virtues ; on the contrary, we feel ourfelves 

 fiilly warranted in reprefenting this drug, under proper manag 



and 



root. 



d 



certain cafes and conftitutions, to be a med 



J 



may be obferved, that this red colour is only confined 



- « Lewis, M. 



of great 



\ 



Some refer Its introdud^ion to medical ufe to Eplmenides"; others to Pythagoras 



\ nailer. Bib. Bot. *. 12. It was fometimes called lyaXXx. and fometimes n^w^ar/o 



^ IS noticed by Diofcorides, Hippocrates. Galen, Aetius/Celfus, Pliny, C^lius 

 nanus, and the Arabian phyficians. 



h 



m 



■perim. circa venena^ p. 12. ^ Mat. Med. p 



See Lange, de rented. Brunf, domeji. p. 176 



"0. 24. 4 N 



. i f^, in niM. p. 18. 



Quarin, Jnimadv. praSf. p. 166. 



pradical 



