230 CROWFOOT. 



were strongly stimulated, his tongue was inflamed and ex- 

 coriated, his teeth were set on edge and affected with shooting 

 pains, and the gums became tender and bloody. As antidotes 

 to this poison, he tried Castor, which was proposed by Aetius, 

 and the herb Balm, recommended by others of the ancients, but 

 to no purpose. Of seventy plants, the leaves of sorrel (Rumex 

 acetosa) only, mitigated the acrimony; next to this the juice of 

 unripe currants appeared most beneficial ; this led him to try 

 pure vegetable acids, which together with water, as before men- 

 tioned, he found the only antidotes. 



In cases of poisoning by this and other plants of the genus, the 

 usual antiphlogistic treatment must be pursued, as already men- 

 tioned under others of the irritant poisons*. 



Medical Properties and Uses. — The acrid and stimulating 

 pj-operties of the Ranunculi have been known ever since the 

 time of Dioscorides-j-. The leaves applied to the surface of the 

 skin, produce pain, redness, tumefaction, elevate the epidermis, 

 cause a discharge of serous fluid, and even considerable ulcera- 

 tion J. The other parts of the plant, the root, the calyx, 

 the corolla, and especially the unripe germen, give rise to 

 the same phenomena. Consequently it has been used as a 

 vesicatory in the same manner as cantharides, and it has this 

 advantage, that it acts with greater rapidity and does not 

 affect the urinary passages, but it is apt to produce great 

 pain, swelling, deep and obstinate ulcers, and gangrene §. To 

 obviate these inconveniences, Chesnau|| recommends the leaves 

 to be pounded in a marble mortar and applied wet with the 

 juice through a perforation of adhesive plaster, a piece not per- 



• See the articles Arum, Bryony, and Colchicum. 



t " The leaves and stems are so acrid and burning that applied to the 

 skin, they raise blisters as well as produce pain. On this account they 

 are used to remove diseased nails and scabies, and to destroy blotches ; 

 they also disperse warts in a very short time, but they are very apt to 

 produce ulcers. The dried powder of the root, taken into the nostrils, 

 provokes sneezing, and applied to the teeth it often relieves pain." — Dioscor. 

 Interp. Sarraceni, lib. ii. c. 206. 



:}: Beggars and other impostors are known to use the leaves of this and 

 other acrid species, in order to excite commiseration by the ulcers they 

 produce. 



§ Krapf loco cit. p. 105. 



II Observ. 31 ed. p. 11. 



