3^0 



vy 



1 



J 



dropfy 



m 



worms 



!> 



&c 



Lmdeftolphe " has aflerted, tliat by 



ed ufe of this herb, great injury is done to the nervous fyfl 



from its narcotic and debilitating efFed;s, which he experienced upon 

 himfelf ; obferving alfo, that he could never taile the extract or effence 

 of Wormwood without being immediately afFeded with head-ach and 



flammation ^of the eyes 



and 



It is 



ed both by him and his 



commentator, Stenzelius, that Abfmthium produced fimilar efFeds 



upon many others 



Thefe narcotic effedls of Wormwood hav 



hOw- 



been attributed to a peculiar idiofyncrafy, as numerous inflances 

 have occurred in which this plant produced a contrary elFed:, though 

 taken daily for the fpace of fix months. Dr. Cullen, fpeaking on this 

 fubjed:, fays, " I have not had an opportunity of making proper 

 experiments ; but to me, with Bergius and Gleditfch, the odour of 

 Wormwood feems temulentans, that is, giving fome confufion of 



head : and formerly, when it was a fafhion with fome people in this 

 country to drink Purl, that is, ale, in which Wormwood is infufed, it 



. This 

 : but I 



was commonly alleged to be more intoxicating than other 

 effed is improperly fuppofed to be owing to its volatile parts 



am more ready to admit the general dodrine of a narcotic power 5 and 

 I believe, from fcveral confiderations. 



/ 



»» 



/ 



particularly from the hiflory of 

 the Portland pOwder, that, there is in every bitter, when largely 

 employed, a power of deftroying the fenfibility and irritability of the 

 nervous power 



Externally Wormwood is ufed in difcutient and antifeptic fomen 

 tations. This plant may be taken in powder, but it is more com- 

 monly preferred in infufion. The Edinburgh pharmacopoeia direds 

 a tindure of the flowers, which is, in the opinion of Dr. Culleri, a 

 light and agreeable bitter, and at the fame time a ftrong impregnation 

 of the Wormwood. 



1 



Eugal. De Scorh. p, ^3 



Fehr, Hiera. ptcra^ vet de Abjinth, anale5ia, p 



7 



Heifter /«Hall. Difput, anat. vol 6. />, 713. Mifc, Nat. Cur, Dec, i. Ann, 3. Obf, 



322. 



De venenis. p, 547 



Mat, Med, vol 



^8 



\ 



'VV 



ARTEMISIA 



