108-2 
History and Habitat.—The Pimpernel is naturalized in this country from 
Europe, and has established itself along both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts in 
dry, sandy soil, where it blossoms from June to August. 
Anagallis formerly held a place in the pharmacopceias of Great Britain as a 
detergent, vulnerary, and cephalic; and was much prized by the ancients in gout, 
gravel, convulsions, and the plague. Gelin and many others considered it highly 
anti-hydrophobic, and reported many cures of this dire malady by its use, even 
after dangerous symptoms supervened, The plant also enjoyed much reputation 
at one time as an anti-epileptic, sudorific, and diuretic in dropsy; it has, however, 
entirely passed out of the minds of general practitioners. Pliny and Dioscorides 
thought highly of the Pimpernel in the removal of intestinal and hepatic obstruc- 
tions; and it was, most probably, from the happier condition of the mind following 
such action, that the latter called the plant dvdyerdo. 
PART USED AND PREPARATION.—The whole fresh, flowering plant (the 
scarlet-flowered form) is chopped and pounded to a pulp, enclosed in a piece of 
new linen, and subjected to pressure. The expressed juice is then briskly agitated 
with an equal weight of alcohol, and allowed to stand eight days in a dark, cool 
place. The tincture, prepared by filtering the above mass, has a slight olivaceous 
color by transmitted light; a sweetish somewhat nauseous herbaceous odor: a 
nutty and slightly astringent taste ; and an acid reaction. 
CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.—Cyclamin, C,,H,,O,,. This glucoside forms 
in small white crystals, or in an amorphous, lustreless, friable Mass; it is very 
acrid, has a rancid taste, and a neutral reaction. Cyclamin is not volatile, is sol- 
uble in water and alcohol, but not in ether. Its aqueous solution is quite sapona- 
ceous. This glucoside breaks down under the action of mineral acids as follows: 
Cyclamin, Glucose. Cyclamiretin. Water. 
CHO, aaa C,H,,O, = CLH@, *h H,0. 
PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.—The whole plant is acrid and pOisonous, as the 
following experiment of Orfila shows: 
“ At eight o'clock in the morning, three drachms of the extract of pimpernel, 
dissolved in an ounce and a half of water, were introduced into the stomach of a 
robust dog. At half-past twelve he had a motion. At six in the evening he was 
_ dejected. At eleven sensibility appeared diminished. The next morning at six 
he was lying upon the side, and appeared to be dead; he might be displaced like 
an-inert mass of matter. He expired half an hour later, The mucous membrane 
of the stomach was slightly inflamed; the interior of the rectum was of a bright 
color; the ventricles of the heart were distended with black coagulated blood; the 
lungs presented several livid spots, and their texture was preternaturally dense. 
Two drachms of the same extract, applied to the cellular texture of a dog’s thigh, 
produced death in twelve hours; and the heart and lungs presented the same 
appearances as in the other.” The following symptoms, recorded by Schreter, 
_ show the character of its action upon man: Lively mood with extra mental vigor ; 
