60 



BANUNCULACEyE. 



Medical Properties and Uaes. — Pulsatilla is an acrid irritant wlncb, in 

 lurj^o closes, has often produced serious and ularniing ellects. In safe 

 luedicinul doses, however, its effects are by no means so Avell known. At 

 various times and by numei'ous authors it has been highly praised as u 

 remedy in diseases of the eye, in rheumatism, amenorrhoea, dysmenorrhoia, 

 et(!. In this country it has been employed chielly by homoeoi^athic prac- 

 titioners, and usually in very nuuute doses. IMuny of the residts claimed 

 for it under such circumstances are at leiist doubtful. Certain it is that 

 other practitioners have not been able to cunlirm them. A few years since 



Pio. 97. — Anemone patens, var. Nuttnlliana. 



it was highly recommended as a remedy in gonorrhocal epididymitis, and 

 many cases were recorded tending to prove its eflicacy, but subsequently 

 cases treated without medicine were shown to make quite as satisfactory 

 progress. The author has employed it in a immber of cases of this affection 

 but without any apparent effect. He has also employed it in numerous 

 cases of dysmenorrhea, generally of hysterical subjects, and though he has 

 frequently observed decided relief from pain during one or two menstrual 

 pei'iods, he is moi*e inclined to attribute this to the mental and moral effect 

 of a new remedy given with the positive assurance that relief w ould follow. 



