ACO 



AGO 



questioned whether the aconite of Theo- 

 phrastus, Dioscorides, Pliny, and other 

 ancient writers, be the same with ours, or 

 should be referred to the genus of Ranun- 

 culus It is confidently affirmed that the 

 huntsmen on the Alps, who hunt the 

 wolves and other wild animals, dip their 

 arrows into the juice of these plants,which 

 renders the wounds occasioned by them 

 mortal. A decoction of the roots has been 

 used to kill bugs ; and the powder, dis- 

 guised in bread, or some other palatable 

 vehicle, has been employed to destroy 

 rats and mice.The A. napellus, or common 

 monk's-hood, has been long known as 

 one of the most virulent of all vegetable 

 poisons. Linnaeus says that it is fatal to 

 swine and goats, but does no injury to 

 horses, who eat it dry. He also informs 

 us, from the Stockholm Acts, that an ig- 

 norant surgeon died in consequence of 

 taking the fresh leaves, which he pre- 

 scribed to a patient. The effluvia of the 

 herb in full flower have produced swoon- 

 ing fits, and a temporary loss of sight. 

 The leaves and shoots of this plant, used 

 as salad, instead of celery, have proved 

 fatal in several instances. But the most 

 powerful part of the plant is the root. 

 Matthiolus relates, that it was given by 

 way of experiment to four condemned cri- 

 minals, two at Rome, in 1524, and two at 

 Prague, in 1561, two of whom soon died, 

 and the other two, with great difficulty, 

 were recovered. The juice applied to the 

 wound of a finger, not only produced pain 

 m the arm and hand, but cardialgia, anxi- 

 ety, sense of suffocation, syncope, &c. and 

 the wounded part sphacelated before it 

 came to suppuration. Dodonaeus says 

 that five persons at Antwerp died in con- 

 sequence of eating it by mistake. The 

 effects of this plant are, convulsions, gid- 

 diness, insanity, violent evacuations, both 

 upwards and downwards, faintings, cold 

 sweat, and even death itself. Neverthe- 

 less it has been used for medical purpo- 

 ses. The Indians are said to use aconite, 

 corrected in cow's urine, with good suc- 

 cess against fevers. There is one species 

 of it which has been deemed an antidote 

 to those that are poisonous, called antho- 

 ra, and those that are poisonous are called 

 thora. The taste of the root of the species 

 denominated anthora is sweet, with a mix- 

 ture of bitterness and acrimony, and the 

 smell is pleasant. It purges violently 

 when fresh, but loses its qualities when 

 dried. This is poisonous as well as the 

 others .though in a slighter degree, and 

 "^ -.el in the present practice. The 



<n who ventured to introduce the 



common tnonk's-hood into medicine w,aa 

 Dr. Stoerck. Stoerck recommends two 

 grains of the extract to be rubbed into a 

 powder, with two drams of sugar, and to 

 begin with ten grains of this powder two 

 or three times a-day. The extract is often 

 given from one grain to ten for a dose ; 

 and some have considerably increased the 

 quantity. Instead of the "extract, a tinc- 

 ture has been made of the dried leaves, 

 macerated in six times their weight of 

 spirits of wine, and forty drops given for 

 a dose. 



ACORN, an ornamental piece of wood, 

 in the shape of a cone, fixed to the top of 

 the spindle of a mast-head, above the 

 vane, to keep it from coming off the spin- 

 dle. 



ACORUS, in botany, the sweet flag, or 

 sweet rush, a genus of the Monogynia or- 

 der, and Hexandria class of plants, and 

 belonging to the natural order of Piperitx, 

 There are two species, viz. the A. cala- 

 mus, or common sweet rush, of which 

 there are two varieties, the vulgaris, or 

 European sweet rush, or calamus aroma- 

 ticus, and the Asiaticus or Indian calamus 

 aromaticus. The common calamus aro- 

 maticus grows naturally on the banks of 

 the rivers, and in shallow standing waters ; 

 and is found in many parts of England, 

 but is much more plentiful in the stand- 

 ing waters of Holland, and is common ii\ 

 many other parts of Europe. Th e Indian 

 calamus, which grows not only in marsh 

 ditches, but in more elevated and dry pla- 

 ces, in Malabar, Ceylon, Amboyna, and 

 other parts of the East Indies, differs but 

 little from the European, except that it is 

 more tender and narrow, and of a more 

 hot and pungent taste ; and A. gramineus, 

 or Chinese sweet-grass, has the roots in 

 tufts, with a few thready fibres. The 

 whole herb has an aromatic smell when 

 bruised, resembling the English sweet- 

 flag, from which it is distinguished by the 

 shortness of that portion of its stalk which 

 is above the spadix, as well as by all its 

 parts, except the florets, being five times 

 smaller than in that plant. It is probably 

 a native of China, and cultivated, for the 

 sake of its smell, in pots, near the habita- 

 tions of the Chinese. The sweet flag will 

 succeed very well in moist garden ground, 

 but never produces its spikes, unless it 

 grows in water. The dried roots of the 

 calamus aromaticus are commonly import- 

 ed from the Levant, though those grown 

 in England are equally good. They have 

 a strong aromatic smell, and a warm pun- 

 gent taste ; the flavour is much improved 

 by drying. The powdered root mig-hi 



