PREFACE. 



discovered in this country. Such a subject of investiga- 

 tion is by no means unimportant, when it is considered 

 how wretchedly inadequate in too many cases is the remu- 

 neration of medical men, and how much the practitioner 

 would often be relieved, if his expenses could be diminished 

 by the substitution of domestic remedies, to be had for the 

 trouble of getting them, in place of exotic drugs which 

 are not only costly, but often so much adulterated as to be 

 unfit for use. When we consider the quality of much of 

 the Scammony, Sarsaparilla, Senna, and even Rhubarb 

 that are sold in the shops, it is surely not extravagant to 

 expect that they should often be advantageously rejected 

 for some of the plants which grow almost at our doors. 

 Our marshes are overrun with the Iris Pseudacorus, an 

 active purgative and emetic ; Ranunculus Flammula 

 another common plant is described by Dr. Withering, the 

 introducer of Digitalis into practice, as the best of all 

 known emetics; and the common Lilac, which, although 

 not a native, is to be found in every garden, has fruit 

 which in its unripe state is singularly bitter, and yields 

 an extract spoken of as a remarkably good tonic and 

 febrifuge. 



They were considerations of this kind which decided 

 the author to include in his work all the plants whether 

 indigenous or exotic, and whether officinal or not, the 

 properties of which were sufficiently well attested to de- 

 serve particular notice. Those plants have however been 

 omitted, whatever their reputation may have been, against 

 the efficiency of which medical opinion has been distinctly 

 and generally expressed. Such exceptions as may be found 

 to this rule, have usually been made for purposes con- 

 nected with the lecture-room, or for the sake of calling 

 attention to plants whose properties seem to deserve 

 further investigation. 



It by no means follows that plants are inert because 

 medical men have reported unfavourably of their action. 

 The most powerful species have had their energy destroyed 

 by unskilful preparation, or by not knowing at what season 



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