NAT. ORDER. DUMOSExE. 43 



fras, and the bark of white oak, and other things, and make a decoc- 

 tion of the mixture, which is much i-ecommended by them as a wash 

 in foul ulcers and gangrene. 



Upon the whole, the Prinos verticillatus may be confidently re- 

 commended to the notice of physicians as a plant possessing in an 

 eminent degree, the properties of vegetable astringent and tonic medi- 

 cines. And if, added to these, we take into view the antiseptic powers 

 it is reputed to possess, it will be found desei-ving of no ordinary com- 

 mendation. Of the last mentioned property indeed from experience I 

 know nothing ; but having used both bark and berries on several oc- 

 casions, it is with no little satisfaction that I bear testimony to its de- 

 sei'ved claim to those commendations which have been bestowed on 

 it for the other virtues. "^ 



The bark may be used in substance or in decoction. To the lat- 

 ter it readily yields its virtue ; as it also does to vinous or spiritous 

 menstruums. From one drachm to three of the powdered bark may 

 be administered in the course of twenty-four hours. An ounce of the 

 bark, added to a pint and a half of water and boiled down to a pint 

 will make a useful decoction, which may be taken in the dose of a 

 gill every two hours. A saturated tincture is a convenient and useful 

 way of extracting the virtues of the plant; and this tincture may be 

 made by mixing the bark and berries together and letting them digest 

 for a few days. 



It may be proper to caution those who gather the Prinos or Black 

 Alder for medical use against mistaking for it the Candle Alder, or 

 Swamp Alder, which names are applied to a species of a very different 

 genus, the Detula scrratula. The name Black Alder may lead to fur- 

 ther mistake, since it is appropriated also to another species of Prinos, 

 the Prinos ainbiguus, and to the Hex deliculata of Barton. It is not 

 improbable, however, that other species of the Prinos, besides those 

 under notice, will be found possessed of similar medical virtues. This 

 is certainly important to enquire into. 



