462 Miscellaneous. 



sions." Griffith Hughes, in his ' Natural History of Barbados,' 1750, 

 p. 230, likewise mentions this plant as a powerful anthelmintic, under 

 the name of " Loggerhead weed." Fusee Aublet, ' Hist, des Plantes 

 de la Guiane Francaise,' vol. i. p. 126, calls it, from Margraave and 

 Plumier (1703), " Arapabaca," and gives the French name by which 

 it is generally known through the French islands, " La Brinvilliers," 

 after the infamous marquise de Brinvilliers, who, in conjunction with 

 her lover St. Croix, poisoned so many people in France in the reign 

 of Louis XIV. The ' Icones Plantarum Medicinalium,' Nuremburg, 

 1799, gives a plate of Spigelia anthelmintica, and Linnaeus, ' Species 

 Plantarum,' anno 1762, torn. i. p. 213, describes the plant ; but no 

 mention is made in either of these works of the Maryland species. 

 Pereira, 'Elements of Materia Medica,' 1842,vol.ii. p. 1288, describes 

 the Spigelia anthelmintica as possessing medicinal qualities similar to 

 the Maryland species, quoting from Browne ; and Nees ab Esenbeck, 

 ' Handbuch der Medicinisch-pharmaceutischen Botanik,' 1831, vol. ii. 

 p. 654, gives a long description of both species, giving however a 

 preference to the Maryland species, " as being more used in North 

 America." 



I have been thus particular in giving an account of the history of 

 our indigenous species in consequence of being desirous to show, 

 that the vermifuge Spigelia, first brought to the notice of Europeans, 

 was the one indigenous to the islands and continent of South Ame- 

 rica, and not the Maryland species, which became known afterwards, 

 and has been since substituted for our species. The first mention of 

 Spigelia marilandica, Pereira states, was in 1740, whilst the Spigelia 

 anthelmintica was noticed by Plumier, ' Nova Plant. American.' gen. 

 11, in 1703, under the name of Arapabaca. The Spigelia marilan- 

 dica is collected, according to Thompson, Pereira and others, by the 

 Creek and Cherokee Indians, and sold to the American merchants. 

 As it is scarcely used in England, a quantity only sufficient to supply 

 the West Indies is imported, and that generally in a bad state. 

 Pereira says, vol. ii. p. 1286, " Owing to the imperfect manner in 

 which the plant is dried, it seldom happens that packages of it reach 

 the market free from dirt and mouldiness." 



The quantity of Maryland pink-root imported here may not amount 

 to much ; but it appears evident, if we can procure, in our immediate 

 vicinity, without much labour, an article superior both in regard to 

 freshness and activity, that it is worth while bringing it to the notice 

 of poor people, who may turn a penny or two by collecting and dry- 

 ing the plant. To the medical men in the colony, who are in the 

 habit of using a mouldy, uncertain remedy, sometimes in enormously 

 bulky and disagreeable doses, as a substitute for the fresh plant within 

 their immediate reach, it is a matter of some importance. 



With regard to the great efficacy of the plant, the testimony of 

 Browne, a learned physician and excellent botanist above quoted, 

 and the experience of the common people (by no means a despicable 

 criterion) ought to be relied on. The late Mr. J. D. Paterson of 

 Christianburg, a gentleman of remarkable powers of observation and 



