BULBOUS CROWFOOT. © 67 
appears to have been known to the ancients. 
Different medical writers have given accounts of 
their mode of operation ; but the most extensive 
history and investigation is that of Krapf, pub- 
lished at Vienna, in 1766. This work, which I 
have not seen, is quoted in all its principal facts 
by Professor Murray of Gsttingen in the Appara- 
tus medicaminum. According to this author the 
various species, with which his experiments were 
made, proved capable of exciting inflammation, 
blistering and ulceration, when applied to the 
skin. A slice of the fresh root of R. bulbosus 
placed in contact with the inside of the finger, 
brought on a sense of burning in two minutes. 
When taken off, the skin was found without red+ 
ness, and the sense of heat and itching ceased. 
In two hours, however, it returned again, and in 
ten hours a full serous blister was raised. This 
was followed by an ulcer of bad character and 
difficult to heal. He remarks that, if the appli- 
cation is continued after the first itching, the 
pain and subsequent erosion is much greater. 
From the accounts given of this species, also 
of R. sceleratus, R. acris, and some others, it 
appears that the leaves, flowers, buds, or roots of 
these plants, if bruised and applied to the skin, 
excite redness and yesication. ‘This effect is not 
