Catalogue of Botanical Works.- 73 



no coltsfoot, and is certainly one of the most baneful medicines that 

 could have been imposed upon the public in pectoral cases." 



(No. VI. is analysed in Gard. Mag., vol. ii. p. 455.) 

 No. VII. for July, contains 



25 to 28. — J?heum palmatum, till lately considered as the true rhubarb; 

 but Mr. Don having shown Dr. Wallich's R. Emodi to be the medicinal 

 plant, the authors of Medical Botany intend figuring that species also in a 

 future Number. We think it very likely that the roots of various species 

 are used, in the same way as the bark of different species of Cinchona is 

 collected as the true bark. Any gardener who has spare plants of any of 

 the sorts grown for the stalks, may slice and dry their roots, and use them 

 medicinally. — Tormentilla ere*cta. The roots contain more tannin than 

 any other vegetable, excepting galls and catechu. Sometimes used as an 

 astringent.' — /Vis florentina. The dried roots smell like violets, and form 

 the orris (iris) powder, used as a perfume, and in tooth-powder. — Acom- 

 tum napellus. Every part of the plant is poisonous in its green state ; but 

 the deleterious and acrimonious qualities are nearly lost by drying. It has 

 lately been used in fever, rheumatism, schirrus, &c. To remove it, as a 

 poison, emetics or the stomach pump are resorted to. A person having 

 eaten some of the leaves of the Jconitum became maniacal ; the surgeon 

 who was called to his assistance declared that the plant was not the cause of 

 his disorder ; and, to convince the company that it was perfectly innocent, 

 he eat freely of it, and soon after died in great agony. 

 No. VIII. for August, contains 



Fiola odorata, Scented Violet. The syrup of the flowers used medicinally ; 

 and an aqueous tincture of them, as a chemical test, to change blue to red, 

 and alkalies to green. — Cassia senna. A shrub of Arabia and Upper Egypt, two 

 feet high, with pennate leaves, and yellow pea-flowers. The leaves dried 

 form the senna of the shops, a well known and active purgative. — Papaver 

 (from papa, pap, or the soft food given to children, in which the seeds were 

 put by the Greeks to make them sleep) J2hce v as (from rheo, to fall, in. 

 allusion to the petals of the flower, which drop soon after their expansion),. 

 Y}YO\)\>\ag-floivered, or Common Corn Poppy. Frequent in corn fields in 

 Europe, but said not to occur in America. The syrup of the leaves has been 

 prescribed in coughs, and " opium has been obtained from the capsides, but 

 in so small a quantity, as to render it an object unworthy of the trouble." — ■ 

 ^'corus {kore, the pupil of the eye ; supposed by the ancients to cure 

 maladies in the eye) Calamus (a reed), Reed Acorus, or Sweet Flag, A 

 Well known aromatic, indigenous in many parts of Europe, Asia, and 

 America, in open situations, in shallow waters, or on the banks of rivers, but 

 never producing its spikes unless growing in water. The root is aromatic,, 

 and frequently used as a substitute for, or in addition to, the cinchona 

 bark. " It may be chewed by dyspeptic persons, and the juice swallowed 

 with advantage when tonics are required ; and, as it excites a copious se- 

 cretion of saliva, it sometimes relieves the pain of toothache. . . . The 

 whole plant has been used for tanning leather; and it is supposed by some 

 that the French snuff a la violette receives its scent from this root. 

 Throughout the United States, it is used by the country people as an ingre- 

 dient in making bitters." In Poland, the floors of the better sort of people 

 are strewed with it when they are going to receive company ; and the leaves,, 

 bruised by the feet of the guests, fill the rooms with a grateful odour, not 

 altogether useless, as well as agreeable, in such a country. 



The figures in this work are equal, if not superior, to those of any other 

 botanical periodical ; but half the plants hitherto given have such slender 

 claims to be considered medicinal, that there seems no sufficient reason for 

 stopping short of half the vegetable kingdom. In our opinion, the most 

 powerful poisons and medical plants ought to have been given first, and one 



