§ TURNBULL ON RANUNCULACE, 
thus stated ; Acrid and vesicatory, e. g. many of the ranunculuses, 
Clematis recta, Knowltonia Vesicatoria, &c., which are used as 
blisters. Acrid, stimulant, cathartic, emetic, e. g. the roots of dif- 
ferent species of Hellebore, Delphinium Staphisagria, &c.  Bit- 
ter, tonic, antispasmodic, e.g. Zanthoriza apitfolia, Hydrastis 
Canadensis, Pxonia officinalis. Along with the acrid prin- 
ciple there exists a powerful narcotic property in the Aconites ; 
some of the acrid plants, as the Ranunculus Glacialis, are sudorofic, 
and others are diuretic and vermifuge. 
In addition to these, there is another class of properties, which exists 
in the Delphinium Staphisagria, some species of the Aconites, and 
in the Sabadilla seeds, and in a more marked degree in the alca- 
loids prepared from these plants; namely, the Delphinia, Aconi- 
tine, and Veratria ; and there can be little doubt, that further inves- 
tigation into the medicinal action of the ranunculaceex, will in- 
crease the number of the individual plants which possess such 
properties. 
When preparations of the species above mentioned, or their alca- 
loids, are exhibited internally in small and repeated doses, they give 
rise to peculiar effects on the nervous system, but more particularly 
upon the nerves of sensation. ‘These consist of heat, and tingling 
on the surface of the skin, beginning generally in the extremities, 
and extending themselves towards the trunk and head, and some- 
times ending in perspiration ; and in rheumatic and other painful 
affections, these sensations are attended by marked relief to the 
patient. The same effects are produced, but more locally, when 
the active principles and other preparations of the plants are applied 
by friction over the seat of the disease ; heat and tingling are like- 
wise induced ; at first only in the part where the friction has been 
made, but afterwards extending itself over the skin. In affections 
which are topical in their nature, these peculiar feelings are also 
_ attended by great diminution in the severity of the symptoms, and 
often by a removal of them after every other means have failed. 
It would be an interesting question, to determine in what manner 
such effects are produced : but as yet nothing has been made out, 
that is calculated to throw light upon the subject. All that can be 
said, is, that they are matters of observation, and it is quite sufficient 
for the purpose of the practitioner that they are so, for it is upon 
such evidence that a great part of our practice is founded. It is to 
this latter class of properties, then, that it is the author’s wish to 
direct the attention of the profession ; and in doing so he may be 
allowed to express his conviction, that if the directions and illus- 
trations to be given, be sufficiently explicit to enable the profession 
to employ the remedies he recommends, the results will be satis- 
factory, 
