1064 



and more efficient anthelmintic than the " Abyssinian Kousso, the 

 Continental Pomegranate, or the American Turpentine. It is sur- 

 prising that Peschier's observations, made on a very large scale 

 indeed, have attracted so little attention in Britain." Dr. Kiichen- 

 meister recently made a number of experiments on the relative value 

 of vermifuges in common use, by immersing living worms in albumen, 

 at a temperature above 77° Fahr., and adding the anthelmintic. He 

 found Taenia crassicollis, thus treated with the etherial extract of the 

 male fern, died in two hours and three quarters, — a longer period, 

 however, than in the case of Kousso {Brayera anthelmintica, an 

 Abyssinian rosaceous shrub).* Pereira gives an excellent article on 

 this fern (in his * Materia Medica,' vol. ii. part 1.), which may be 

 referred to for particulars as to the chemistry of the root. Vide, also, 

 Christison's ' Dispensatory,' Royle's ' Materia Medica,' Graves' ' Hor- 

 tus Medicus,' and other works on medical Botany or pharmacopoeias. 



With regard to other ferns and their alhes, these, like most indige- 

 nous plants, appear at one time, and that not long gone by, to have 

 held a high place, either in professional or domestic medicine ; and 

 notes of their applications in this respect are to be found in a great 

 number of local Floras, and in works on medical Botany, medical 

 journals, &c. Vide, for instance, Burnett's ' Outlines of Botany,' 

 Pereira's ' Materia Medica,' Lightfoot's ' Flora Scotica,' and Smith's 

 ' English Flora.' They appear, however, to be little, if at all, used at 

 the present day. I shall briefly glance at the alleged properties of a 

 few. 



Adiantum Capillus- Veneris. Ray, in his ' Historia,' attributes 

 every possible virtue to it, on the authority of a Montpellier physi- 

 cian. Its frond is still sold in some shops, for the purpose of making 

 the agreeable beverage called " capillaire," which, however, usually 

 contains no Adiantum, but is made of " clarified syrup, flavoured with 

 orange-flower water." It is slightly astringent, and was recommended 

 in pulmonary complaints. Like most ferns, it contains tannic and 

 gallic acids ; but its properties are, in all probability, imaginary. 



Aspidium. Various species have been supposed possessed of cer- 

 tain properties, and were formerly officinal in some of the Euglisli 

 provinces, and included in some of the Continental pharmacopoeias 

 (Burnett). 



* Vide 'Association Medical Journal,' July 8, 1853, and February 11, 1853; 

 ' Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Science,' February, 1853 ; Froriep's ' Tagsbe- 

 richte iibcr die Foitscbrittc der Natur-und Ilalkuudc. Pharinakologie.' Baud i. p. 

 317. 



