PROPERTIES OF CRYPTOGAMIC PLANTS. 13 



fetid smell, resembling castor, giving out its odor while drying, 

 and on being again moistened. — C. Eng. 



Anthoceras Linn. (Sides of ditches.) Two species in S. C. 

 (H. W. R.) These, among the lowest order of vegetables, are 

 nothing more than a simple membranous expansion resting on the 

 earth, their structure being homogeneous ; hence every portion 

 is in direct relation to its nutritive materials, and these in so ele- 

 mentary a state as to enable us to examine into the most simple 

 states of wdiich we can conceive. For further observations, see 

 Payer, Botanique Crypt. 1850. 



Marchantia hemis2yhcrica, L. ( Sides of streams. April. 



Rebouillia, Raddi. t S. C. ! to N. Scotia. 



Dr. Short, physician to tlie Royal Infirmary at Edinburgh, 

 being struck with the insufficiency of remedies for certain 

 dropsies, resolved to try this plant, which was a popular rem- 

 edy in Ireland. In a large number of cases it acted sur- 

 prisingly well ; but, like most of the diuretics, it failed in oth- 

 ers. The decoction may be used, or a cataplasm, made of two 

 pounds of the fresh plant, "lavee et miser a bouillotter dans un 

 litre d'eau pendant douze heures," adding a sufficiency of water 

 upon its evaporation. The pulp beaten up is used as a cataplasm. It 

 was found to produce considerable transpiration, and acted pow- 

 erfully on the kidneys. — Edinburgh Med. and Surg. Journal, 1833. 

 Merat, from which we translate in quoting the above, supposes 

 that the M. polymorphia possesses similar properties. Dr. Levrat- 

 Perrotan employs with success the decoction in gravel, and he 

 reports cases in which it was of much service. Dr. Gensoul uses 

 it as a diuretic (Rev. Med., Janvier, 1815). Tlie decoction may 

 be made with an ounce or two of the plant added to one pint of 

 boiling water.— Merat & De L., Diet, de M. Med. Supplem. 

 vol. 457. 



Marcha7itiapolymo7'phia. Moist situations ; July. This, with 

 the above and the M. conica, are regarded as active diuretics. By 

 the beautiful researches of Mirbel upon the nature of the sporange 

 of this plant, a close analogy has been demonstrated between these 

 and the authors of phanerogams. See also the researches of M 

 M. Decaisne, Hedwig, and Schmiedel, respecting the Zoothiques ; 

 Payer, Botanique Cryptogamique, 1850; for review and notices of 



