NAT. ORDER. LOBELIACE^. 55 



the revolutionary war, as a substitute for tea. It is also highly 

 recommended as a local application in apthous affections of the 

 mouth and fauces, and in the sore throat of scarlatina, and as 

 an internal remedy in dysentery, for which a strong decoction 

 should be made of the dried leaves and seeds. We owe some 

 portion of this description to Sir W. Johnson, who received it 

 from the Indians of this country. The author would also oeg 

 lea^■e to state a fact which has come under his own observation, 

 and of which he has been a daily witness, fully sustaining its high 

 reputation, not only for the cure of ulcers, tumors and scrofulous 

 affections, but in the treatment of cancers of the most obstinate 

 character. 



In the month of March last, Miss Vanriper, from the central 

 part of New Jersey, called upon me for advice in regard to a can- 

 cer which was located upon her left breast. After making the 

 necessary examination, I found it to be of the scirrhus kind ; the 

 tumor had extended over tlie whole breast, and was then very 

 painful. The puckering of the skin, the dull leaden color of the 

 integuments, the knotted and uneven surface, the occasional dart- 

 ing pains in the part, its fixed attachment to the skin above, and 

 muscles beneath, and in the breast, the retracted state of the 

 nipple, accompanied with declining health, and a peculiar sallow 

 complexion, formed so striking an assemblage of symptoms, that 

 there could not be the smallest doubt, that the tumor was a true 

 scirrhus. 



The encouragement which I orave of effecting a cure without 

 extirpation, was but little, nor should I have attempted it under 

 any circumstances, especially, at this stage of the disease, had I 

 not previously become acquainted with the valuable properties of 

 this species of lobelia, in the treatment of scrofula, tumors, cancers, 

 eruptions of the skin, &c. I have administered it in many cases, 

 and never failed of making a cure, unless in the cancer, where it 

 was very far advanced, and the vital powers o^ life exhausted. In 



I- 



