2 Dr. Rousseau on the 
Of the Virtue of the Leaves of the Holly (Ilex Aquifolium) in the 
Treatment of Intermittent Fever. 
«* Gratia sic minimo magna labore venit.” 
I am indebied to numerous experiments, and to their suc- 
cessful results, for the advantage of proposing the holly as a 
febrifuge and succedaneum for cinchona bark. 
The experience of twenty years has convinced me of the 
virtue of this medicine, which, administered by enlightened 
and intelligent men, has fulfilled all the conditions required 
of it to supersede the Peruvian bark in the treatment of 
intermittent fever. 
Although it is one alone that here principally concerns us, 
it may not be impertinent to state that there are at least 
twenty-five species of holly growing in the four divisions of 
our globe, which form a very numerous genus: however, we 
cannot assign to any of these the febrifuge properties which 
we have observed in the indigenous holly, which grows 
in France and in all parts of Europe: for this reason, the 
species in question is the only one which has been submitted 
to experiment by me. 
[The author here gives at some length the botanical and physi- 
cal characters and history of the Ilex Aquifolium, which, as they 
differ not materially from accounts already published, and fami- 
liarly known to almost every one, it has been deemed advisable to 
omit these paragraphs in the translation, and to proceed at once 
to the] 
Chemical analysis. We are indebted to M. LassatacE, 
a zealous friend of science, for the first analysis which he 
undertook to discover the composition of the leaves of the 
holly. This analysis furnished him, viz. 1, wax; 2, chloro- 
phylle, (green matter of the leaves;) 3, a bitter matter, which 
is neutral, non-crystallizable, soluble in alcohol, and unde- 
composable by the acids and alkalies; 4, a yellow colouring 
matter; 5, gum; 6, acetate of potass; 7, muriate of potass 
and lime; 8, supermalate of lime; 9, sulphate and phosphate 
of lime; 10, fibre of the wood (lignin), 
The febrifuge principle appearing to me to reside in the 
bitter matter, it was necessary, in order to ascertain its pre- 
sence, to have recourse to new processes. M. DELEscHAMPs, 
an able chemist, has obtained the following results: 
First process. A kilogramme of the leaves of the holly, 
previously dried and reduced to powder, was twice boiled, 
each time in five kilogrammes of water, during two hours, in 
a Papin’s digester, to facilitate the dissolving of the bitter 
principle, by increasing the temperature. After the second 
