ACONITUM. 



Helmet compressed, much lengthened upwards and rounded, ter- 

 minated by a short apex. Ovaries 3-5. The plants of this 

 division are only known from the Napelli by their helmet being 

 more lengthened. 



33. A. paniculatum Lam. fl. fr. ed. 1. suppL 1224. DC. 

 prodr. i. 60. Lycoctonum autumnale vii. Clus. hist. ii. p. 98. 

 A. Napellus officinale Sto'rck de aconit. Broken mountainous 

 ground in the alps of Europe. 



Stem erect, smooth. Leaves divided in 3 nearly down to the petiole; 

 the segments cuneate at the base, the side ones 2-parted whence the leaf 

 looks as if 5-cleft; the segments acuminate, sharply pinnatifid and 

 slashed. Raceme lax, corymbose, erect. Pedicels downy, the lowest long 

 and branched. Bracteolae subulate. Flowers pale blue, smooth. Wings 

 smooth inside. Helmet convex, more acuminate than in the Napelli, 

 but scarcely with an abrupt point, DC. Leaves are moderately bitter, 

 acrid and narcotic : they are diaphoretic and diuretic ; but in over- 

 doses they are exceedingly dangerous, producing vomiting, hyper- 

 catharsis, mania, convulsions and death. The extract, or the aconitine, 

 are used in chronic rheumatism, gout, paralysis, dropsy, &c. The roots 

 are more dangerous than the leaves. Dr. Thomson says that for me- 

 dicinal purposes the leaves should be gathered when the flowers appear. 

 (Dispens. p. 168.) Is not this much too early? 



Sect. IV. NAPELLUS. 



Roots fibrous, from a somewhat tuberous trunk. Leaves with 

 multifid lobes and linear segments. Raceme cylindrical simple. 

 Flowers blue purple or white never yellow. Helmet convex, by 

 degrees tapering to a point. 



.34. A Napellus Linn.sp. pi. 751. Woodv. t. 6. Eng.Bot. 

 t.2730. S.and C. i. t.28. A. Lycoctonum vi. Napellus vulgaris, 

 Clus. hist. ii. p. 96. f. 2. A. vulgare DC. prodr. \. 62. High 

 mountainous meadows, and cold exposed hills in many parts of 

 Europe. 



Variable in the breadth of the leaves, the number of the slashes, and 

 in the downiness of the various parts. Stems always quite simple. 

 Leaves completely divided to the base into 5 wedge-shaped lobes, which 

 are 3-fid ; their segments being also slashed linear and acute usually 

 callous at the re-entering angles. Raceme cylindrical quite simple. 

 Flowers deep purple, hairy. Helmet semicircular, gradually ending in 

 a point. Wings hairy inside. Ovaries 3, smooth. A true narcotico- 

 acrid poison. Numerous fatal cases of its application are recorded ; 

 see Christison, p. 784. Three out of five persons who took a spirituous 

 infusion of the root, which had been mistaken for lovage, died in 2 

 hours, with vomiting, purging, and burning in the throat, colic, and 

 swelling of the belly. Like the last it has been found sudorific and 

 diuretic in small repeated doses, and has been used in paralysis and 

 epilepsy, rheumatic and neuralgic pains, dropsy, uterine complaints, 

 intermittent fevers, &c. The leaves are the part employed. 



A crowd of spurious species has been created out of this very com- 

 mon and variable plant. It would be useless even to name them. 

 11 



