AO ORD. XVII. Bicornes. PYROLA UMBELLATA. 
in the quantity of a pint every twenty-four hours. Although the case was 
altogether an unpromising one, yet the plant gave relief, not only in the 
first, but also in the subsequent instances of its use. It increased the 
urinal discharge, and, at the same time, produced an augmentation of 
strength, and an invigorated appetite. Several other cases of dropsy are 
detailed in Dr. Somerville’s paper, in which the Pyrola was administered 
by himself and by other practitioners with decided advantage. Dr. Somer- 
ville found his patients remark that an agreeable sensation was perceived 
in the stomach soon after taking the Pyrola, and that this was followed in 
some instances by an extraordinary increase of appetite. He considers it 
as having, in this respect, a great advantage over other diuretics, none of 
which are agreeable to the stomach, and most of them very offensive to it. 
He further states, that no circumstance had occurred within his own expe- 
rience or information, to forbid its use in any form, or to limit the dose. 
Sir Walter Farquhar, it appears, also used the Pyrola wmbellata in the case 
of a lady labouring under ascites, in which case the diuretic effects were 
very striking. Dr. Barton, author of “The Vegetable Materia Medica of 
the United States,” also corroborates the accounts of the diuretic effects of 
this vegetable, by four cases which came under his care at the Marines’ 
Hospital, Philadelphia, in which a strong infusion was given with the most 
decided advantage.* Drs. Satterley and Marcet are also among those who 
have added their observations to the testimonies in its favour. Dr. Wolfhas 
given one very satisfactory case of the utility of the Pyrola in ascites: he 
also found it to alleviate altogether the ardor urine attendant on gonorrhea. 
Dr. Bigelow says: “I have administered this plant on various occasions, 
and attended to its mode of operation. In a number of dropsical cases, 
when first given, it made a distinct and evident impression on the disease, 
communicating an increased activity to the absorbents, followed by a great 
augmentation of the excretion from the kidnies. The benefit, however, with 
me, has been most frequently temporary, and it was found better to omit 
the medicine for a time, and to resume it afresh, than to continue it until 
the system had become insensible to its stimulus. After suspending it for 
* The Pyrola wmbellata appears to act on animals the same as on man; for it is 
said to be the practice in many parts of America to give a bucketfull of the decoction to 
horses that are unable to stale, with the view, and uniformly with the effect, of relieving 
them. 
