MELANTHACE^E. 



Leaves plaited, broad-ovate, acute or rather blunt. Panicle terminal. 

 Flowers yellowish white, green at the back, 8 lines in diameter, with the 

 divisions spreading, serrulate and slightly wavy. In other respects it is 

 much like the last. The rhizoma is very poisonous, acting as a local 

 irritant. Applied to the nose it produces violent sneezing ; placed in 

 contact with the skin it causes redness and inflammation. Swallowed 

 in small doses, as 1 or 2 grains, it is said to act as an emetic and pur- 

 gative ; in large quantities it causes violent vomiting, purging, and 

 other consequences that produce death. It is rarely employed inter- 

 nally, except in mania and epilepsy, lepra, torpid conditions of the large 

 intestines, gout, &c. In the form of powder it is sometimes prescribed 

 as a sternutatory in amaurosis and affections of the brain. The un- 

 guentum veratri is used against the itch, and the decoction not only in 

 skin diseases, but also to destroy pediculi. 



1238. V. Sabadilla Retz. obs. i. 31. Descourtilz in ann. soc. 

 linn. par. 1824, 167. N. and E. pi. med. t. 48. R. and S. 

 vii. 1558 Mexico and the West India Islands. 



A plant 3 or 4 feet high. Stem erect, simple, round. Leaves nu- 

 merous, spreading on the ground, all radical, ovate-oblong, obtuse, with 

 8-14 ribs, glaucous underneath. Panicle spreading, simple, or a little 

 branched. Flowers rather nodding. Pedicels very short, approximated 

 in twos and threes ; those of the fertile flowers eventually becoming 

 turned to one side, those of the sterile flowers deciduous and leaving a 

 scar. Segments of the perianth ovate-lanceolate, veinless, blackish 

 purple. Ovaries 3, oblong, connate, obtuse; styles acute, dilated 

 downwards ; stigmas simple. Capsules 3, in form resembling those of 

 Larkspur, opening at the apex inside. Seeds 3 in each cell, imbricated, 

 curved, blunt on one side, sooty, acrid. Descourtilz. This furnishes 

 one of the Cevadil/a, Cebadilla or Sabadilla seeds of commerce, which 

 were formerly used to destroy pediculi, and as anthelmintics ; they 

 have also been employed in chronic rheumatism and paralysis, and in 

 neuralgic cases. They are now chiefly consumed in the manufacture of 

 Veratrif*, to which they give the name. This substance is an active and 

 dangerous local stimulant ; but administered with caution it proves a 

 valuable medicine in gout, rheumatism, anasarca, and generally as a 

 substitute for Colchicum. 



HELONIAS. 



Perianth 6-parted; segments narrow, rather unequal, ob- 

 tuse, not striated or herbaceous, nor imbricating. Stamens 6, 

 inserted into the base of the segments, unequal ; filaments subu- 

 late; anthers reniform with confluent cells. Capsule separating 

 into 3 many-celled follicles. Seeds compressed, winged at the 

 apex or wingless. 



1239. H. officinalis Don in Edinb. newphil. Journ. Oct. 1832. 

 p. 234. Veratrum officinale SchlecJit. in Linn. vi. 45. Eastern 

 side of the Mexican Andes, near Barranca de Tioselo, by the 

 Hacienda de la Laguna, in grassy places. 



Bulbous. Plants generally caespitose. Leaves linear, tapering to a 

 point, even, smooth, entire, channelled above, carinate at the back, 



586 



