m 



r ^ 



The feed of Santonlcum or Wormfeed is fmall, light, oval, com- 

 pofed as it were of a number of thin membranous coats, of a yellowifn 

 reen colour, with a caft of brownj eafily friable on being rubbed be- 



tween 



the fingers 



) 



into a fine chaffy kind of fubftance. 



Thefe feeds are brought from the Levant ;'' they have a moderately 

 and not agreeable fmell, fomev^hat of the wormwood kind; and 



ftrong 



a very bitter fubacrid tafte. Their virtues are extraded both by watery 

 and fpirituous menftrua. 



Thefe feeds, in common with the other Artemifias, are elieemed 

 to be ftomachic, emm.enagogue,'' and anthelmintic ; but it is efpecially 



for the laft mentioned powers that they have been generally admi 



niftered ; and from their efficacy in this way they obtained the name 

 of Wormfeed. Their quality of deftroying worms has been afcribed 

 folely to their bitternefs ; but it- appears from Bagllvi, that worms 

 (lumbrici) immerfed in a ftrong infufion of thefe feeds, were killed 

 in five, and according to Redi, in feven or eight hours,^ while in 

 the infufion of Wormwood, and in that of Agaric the v/orms con- 



\ 



tinued to live more than thirty hours ; and hence it has been inferred 

 that their vermifuge efFeds could not wholly depend upon the bitter- 

 nefs of this feed. To adults the dofe in fubftance is from one to 

 two drams twice a day. Lewis thinks that the fpirituous extrad is 



the moft eligible preparation of the Santonicum for the purpofes of 



an anthelmintic. 



^ Lew'tsy M. M, p. 580.. 



« Remarkable elFeas of the Santonicum in this way are related by Bcrglus :— « Puclla? 

 euidem decenni, vermrbus confli6lanti, femina Santonici exhibui, fed per illud tempus. 

 quo iis utebatur, menfes fluxerunt, qua re cognita, ufum eorundem diffuafi,. unde. 

 €tiam fluxus fponte ceffavit." M. M. p. 66%. 



' Bagliv,. Oper. p. 60. Redi de animal, viv. p. 1.59,,- 



DATURA STRAMONIUiM:. 



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