274 rue. 



this property is lost in drying. The volatile oil, on which its 

 properties chiefly depend, is obtained in part by distillation 

 with water. Rectified spirit, by infusion, takes up more of its 

 virtues than water. On inspissating the spirituous tincture, 

 very little of its flavour rises with the menstruum, nearly all 

 the active matter remaining behind in the extract, which is 

 therefore a suitable form for administration. The capsules and 

 seeds afford more volatile oil than the other parts of the 

 plant. The oil is acrid, bitterish, and rather more disagreeably 

 odorous than the plant itself, yellowish at first, deepening to 

 brown by age, and depositing a brownish resinous sediment. 

 It congeals at 40° Farenheit, and is said to be more soluble in 

 water than the other volatile oils. 



Poisonous Properties. — Orfila found that the distilled water, 

 and watery extract, given to animals in large doses, caused 

 death after a long interval, by producing local irritation, and 

 consequent inflammation. He also states, that the essential oil 

 introduced into the veins acts as a narcotic, and probably has 

 the same effect when taken into the stomach ; but it is not 

 energetic. We are not acquainted with any serious case of 

 poisoning by this plant in the human subject ; but the incau- 

 tious use of it as a domestic remedy is calculated to produce 

 mischief, as the effects produced by handling it too long tes- 

 tify *, and the excoriation of the lips and nostrils, occasioned 

 by applying it too closely, for the purpose of warding off con- 

 tagion, and counteracting fetid odours. 



Medicinal Properties and Uses — That this plant is a potent 

 stimidant, is proved by the irritation it produces when bruised 

 and applied to the skin, as already observed. By the ancients it 

 was especially regarded as wielding powerful influence over the 

 nervous system in general, and over the uterus in particular. It 

 was celebrated even in the days of Pythagoras. Hippocrates de- 

 signates it resolutive, diuretic, and alexiterial ; but its reputed 

 anti-contagious properties are now scarcely credited, notwith- 

 standing Boerhaave's recommendations. Galen esteemed it 

 carminative, in flatuosities and colic, but it was justly observed 



* This was observed by Dioscorides— " Si montana (rata) sub id tempus 

 quo florere incipit, ad muriae condituram colligatur cutem rubefacit, ac 

 inflat, cum pruritu et vehementi inflammatione." — Mat. Med. lib. iii. c. 52. 



