CON 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



CON 



347 



rays of the umbel ten to twelve, of the umbellule fifteen or 

 sixteen ; culix entire ; corolla white : outer petals largest ; 

 fruits ovate, gibbous, with compressed ribs, waved before it 

 is ripe, but becoming almost straight; seeds brownish, resem- 

 bling- those of aniseed, withfive notched elevated ridges, three 

 on the back and two on the side. Hemlock is obviously dis- 

 tinguished by its large and spotted stalk, by the dark and 

 hhining green colour of its bottom leaves, and particularly 

 by their disagreeable smell when bruised. It is common by 

 road and hedge sides, in cultivated ground, among rubbish, 

 itiul on dunghills ; flowering in June and July. According 

 to Linneus, sheep eat the leaves, while horses, cows, and 

 goats, refuse them. Ray informs us, that the thrush will 

 feed upon the seeds, even when corn is to be had ; and Mr. 

 Curtis remarks, that scarcely any insects appear to touch it. 

 The dried fistulous stalks of this and several other umbel- 

 late plants, are called by the country people kaxes or 

 kecksit's. This plant, which was stigmatized as one of the 

 most noxious of vegetable poisons, has of late years been 

 considered as a highly useful and powerful article of the 

 materia medica ; and it has been proved by indisputable 

 experiments, that though highly deleterious when impru- 

 dently used, it has been productive of considerable benefit 

 in cases which have resisted the usual methods. It has been 

 particularly celebrated in cancerous cases ; the leaves arc 

 frequently employed in poultices, fomentations, and plaisters, 

 to discuss and disperse hard tumors : taken internally in any 

 considerable quantity, they occasion disorders of the senses, 

 convulsions, and sometimes death. The dried leaves, put 

 into little bags, and boiled for a few minutes in water or 

 milk, then squeezed from the superfluous moisture, and ap- 

 plied warm to gangrenous sores check the progress of the 

 mortification, and procure a separation of the unsound parts : 

 the same application being made to gouty members, imme- 

 diately abates the pain, softens and dissolves the hard con- 

 cretions which frequently are formed about the joints in this 

 disorder, and occasions the next fit to be milder and of 

 shorter continuance. In hard glandulous swellings, and 

 cancerous ulcers, its effects are likewise very considerable ; 

 and though some have made a trial of it without receiving 

 any benefit, there has hitherto no instance occurred of its 

 proving prejudicial to any : Baron Stoerck. recommends an 

 extract made from the juice of the plant, to be taken inter- 

 nally at the same time, and for the same purposes ; and 

 relates a number of cases, wherein the worst kinds of ulcers, 

 glandular swellings, fistulas, and cancers, were effectuall} 

 cured by it. The manner in which he orders the extract to 

 be taken, is, to begin with giving one pill of two grains twice 

 a day, then three times, and after that gradually increase the 

 number, till six or more of them are taken for a dose. Wither- 

 ing recommends the extract of Hemlock, when prepared with 

 attention and accuracy, as a valuable addition to medicine. 

 " Not" says he, " that I have been a witness to any cures 

 performed by its use, either in occult or ulcerated cancers, 

 but I have never given it without mitigating the pain, and 

 producing an alteration for the better in the discharge. Fif- 

 teen or twenty grains of the powdered leaves, taken twice or 

 three times a day, have been found of very great efficacy in 

 obstinate rheumatic complaints, and several other disorders, 

 which are usually supposed to arise from an acrimonious 

 state of the fluids." The following is Dr. Mothering's method 

 of preparing this powder of the dried leaves : Gather them 

 about the end of June, when the plant is in flower ; pick off 

 the little leaves, and throw the stalks away ; dry these small 

 leaves in a hot sunshine, or in a tin dripping-pan, or other 

 convenient vessel, before the fire ; preserve them in bags of 



strong brown paper, or powder them and keep them in glass 

 phials, and put them away in a drawer, or place where no 

 light can come upon them, for the light not only takes away 

 their fine green colour, but also their virtue. When admi- 

 nistered with prudence, it agrees with all ages and constitu- 

 tions ; joined with pectoral medicines, it promotes perspira- 

 tion, and has been of great utility in the falling sickness and 

 convulsions : taken inwardly, and applied outwardly at the 

 same time, it abates inflammations of the eyes, takes away 

 pain, and occasions sleep ; and though it has all the good 

 properties of opium, it never produces thirst, or occasions the 

 head-ache, which that drug generally does ; nor does it bring- 

 on costiveness, but generally produces a loose stool or two 

 the day following. It possesses the property of rendering 

 the corrosive ichorous discharge from cancerous ulcers mild, 

 and of a better consistence, and has been given with great 

 advantage to such as are troubled with bloody ulcers, gleets, 

 and other painful and weakening discharges: it powerfully 

 promotes the menses, particularly when they have been sud- 

 denly restrained, by cold, or any other external accident -, it 

 moreover cures the itch, promotes perspiration in some, and 

 a copious flow of urine in others ; and though not a cure for 

 cancerous complaints, it is one of the best palliatives in those 

 dreadful disorders, and far superior to opium. The best way 

 of administering Hemlock is, to give the powder or extract 

 in very small doses at first, which are to be increased gra- 

 dually till the full dose is arrived at, which may be known 

 by its producing giddiness in the head, a motion of the eyes 

 as if something pushed them outwards, a slight sickness at- 

 tended with a universal trembling of the body, and a loo-i- 

 stool or two the day after. One or more of these circum- 

 stances are the signs of a full dose, which should be conti- 

 nued for a considerable time, as little advantage can be 

 expected without a perseverance in the use of it. When 

 Hemlock is imprudently eaten, or taken in too large doses.it 

 occasions giddiness in the head, dimness of sight, a sort of 

 madness, coldness of the extremities, convulsions, and even 

 death. The mode of obtaining relief in such cases, is ti> 

 empty the stomach as soon as possible, by meansof the most 

 active emetics, and then to give frequent doses of sharp 

 vinegar. This plant may be easily propagated from seed, 

 which will come up plentifully if permitted to scatter, and 

 will only require to be thinned for medical use. 



2. Conium Rigens ; Fme-leaved Hemlock. Seeds some- 

 what muricated ; peduncles grooved ; leaflets channelled, 

 obtuse. Root perennial ; stem shrubby, short, stiff ; 

 branches longer, spreading very much, remote ; leaves 

 twice-winged, somewhat fleshy, doubled, obtuse, crenulate, 

 hard ; florets all fertile, white. Native of the coast of the 

 Cape of Good Hope, where it flowers in June. The seeds 

 of this and the following species should be sown in pots in 

 autumn, soon after they are ripe, and placed under a common 

 frame in winter, where they may always be exposed to the 

 open air in mild weather, and be only covered in severe 

 seasons ; they appear early in the spring, and must then be 

 as much in the open air as the weather will permit, otherwise 

 they will be drawn up weak : they do not bear transplanting 

 well, and should therefore be thinned to four or five in a pot, 

 after which they only require to be kept clean, and to he 

 watered in very dry weather. 



3. Conium Africannm ; Rue-leaved Hemlock. Seeds muri- 

 eated ; petioles and peduncles glossy ; leaflets flattish, not 

 channelled, smelling like Smallage or Celery ; peduncles op- 

 posite to the leaves, not furrowed, as in the foregoing ; many 

 of the florets barren ; the central fruit sessile ; seeds kmgvr 

 than in the common sort. Annual : native of the Cape. 





