2.62 DILL. 



sweetish, subacrid, and aromatic. The seeds* have a more aro- 

 matic odour, and a warm pungent taste, and yield the whole of 

 their virtues to rectified spirit. Infused in water very little of 

 their active matter is taken up; by distillation, however, it is 

 obtained, together with a considerable portion of essential oil. 



Medicinal Properties and Uses. — Dill was held in high 

 estimation bv Dioscorides, who recommends it for auormentins: 

 the milk of nurses and to appease windy colic ; he also mentions 

 an oil prepared from the flowers as eiScacious in cutting short 

 the cold fit of intermittent fevers, and in easing sciatic and rheu- 

 matic pains t. It was reputed hypnotic t and anodj-ne, an opi- 

 nion in which Geof&oy§ appears to coincide, who observes 

 that in this respect it resembles saffron, nutmeg, and other oily 

 aromatics. Forestusj) highly commended its effects in hic- 

 cough and vomiting, and advised the external application of the 

 bruised herb in the form of a cataplasm. In the present day, 

 the seeds are most frequently employed ; they are considered 

 stimulant and carminative, and are used chiefly in dyspepsia, 

 flatulent colic, and hiccough, particularly of infants. 



Of the powdered seeds, from twenty to thirty grains are con- 

 sidered a dose. Of the essential oil^ four or five drops on sugar 

 mav be given in flatulence and hiccough. 



^ CD o 



DILL water % 



Take of Dill seeds, bruised .... one pound. 

 Pour on them such quantity of Water, that after distillation, enough 

 may remain to prevent empyreiuna. 



From one to two ounces may be given to an adult. In the 

 flatulence and hiccough to which infants are subject, a desert 

 spoonful occasionally proves very beneficial. It is also a useful 

 vehicle for salts and magnesia. 



• The seeds are called by the Brahmins m'tshi, and are frequently sold in 

 the bazaars of Lower India for caraway seeds. — Dr. Ainslie. 



t DeMat. Med. lib. iii. c. 167, ?■ 201. He also thought that the too free 

 use of it injured the sight, " frequentius potum, ociilos hebetat, et geni- 

 turam restinguit." Ray observes, " dill has been said to be hurtful to the 

 sight, which appears strange, since in habit and qualities it is so like fennel 

 which, by general consent, sharpens the vision." 



+ Nurses sprinkle the distilled water about the beds of the sick to indace 

 sleep. — Beraius. 1. c. p. 226. 



§ Mat. 3Ied. torn. iii. p. 92. 



II Opera Om. lib. vi. obs. 29. 



*" Aqua Anethi.— P^rwi. Loud. 



