Medical Botany. 79 



small quantities, and the roots sold to the brewers and druggists at from 

 21. to 31. per cwt. It is propagated by cuttings of the small roots, planted in 

 light sandy soil, trenched three spits deep, in rows 3 ft. asunder, and the plants 

 18 in. apart in the row. A crop of onions, radishes, &c, may be taken the 

 first year, but nothing of this kind dining the second and third summers. At 

 the end of the thud summer the roots are taken up, trimmed of the side 

 shoots, which are reserved for cuttings, moderately dried, and tied in bun- 

 dles for sale. The extract is obtained by maceration in boiling water, then 

 boiling, straining, and evaporating. It is prepared on a large scale abroad, 

 and imported chiefly from Spain. The powder of liquorice sold in the shops 

 is often mixed with flour. " Unlike other sweets, liquorice has had the 

 reputation, from time immemorial, of allaying thirst, which property is attri- 

 buted by Cullen to an acid and bitter matter, which follows the extraction 

 of the sweetness by chewing. Under the form of extract it is in common 

 use as a demulcent, in coughs and hoarsenesses ; and is sometimes taken to 

 relieve acidity of the stomach. It is also employed to cover the unpleasant 

 taste of several bitter and nauseous drugs, particularly aloes and Peruvian 

 bark." — .Marrubium vulgare ; Common Horehound. The active principles 

 of this plant appear to be a bitter, extractive, volatile oil, and gallic acid. It 

 is a popular remedy with the poor, is tonic, producing an increased flow of 

 urine, and in considerable doses gently aperient. " The nostrum, sold as 

 Balsam of Horehound, consists, according to Paris, of infusion of horehound 

 and liquorice root, with double the proportion of proof spirit or brandy ; to 

 which is added opium, camphor, benzoin, squills, oil of aniseed, and honey. 

 A remedy for consumption, forsooth ! ! " — Feratrum album ; White-flowered 

 Veratrum, or White Hellebore. A native of the mountainous districts in 

 most of Europe from Norway to Greece, but not in Great Britain. In the 

 Alpine pastures of Switzerland, this stately plant, accompanied by the Gen- 

 tidna lutea, makes a magnificent appearance. The root, which is the part 

 used in medicine, is tuberose and ramose, with a disagreeable odour, and 

 an acrid, nauseous, and bitter taste, " excoriating the mouth and fauces ; 

 while the powder, if applied to wounds, produces effects on the animal eco- 

 nomy of a highly deleterious nature, the whole plant being in fact poi- 

 sonous. If applied to the membrane lining the nose, it proves a violent 

 sternutatory." In the chemical analysis of the root, a poisonous prin- 

 ciple can be "separated, and is known under the name of Veratrine. The 

 same principle is discovered in every species of the genus, and also in the 

 bulb of Colchicum autumnale. Taken in any form, the Feratrum, or White 

 Hellebore, is a violent poison. In medicine it is applied in cases where it is 

 necessary to excite quickly a strong action of the bowels. " When given 

 with this intention, it has answered very well in the case of old people, when 

 an enormous accumulation of feces existed in the larger intestines." It is 

 employed, conjoined with opium, in gout, and was at one period considered 

 the active ingredient of the Eau Medicinale. 



No. XXXV. for November, contains 

 137 to 140. — Jnethum graveolens. " Like the anise and caraway, the 

 seeds of dill are carminative and stomachic ; " as are also the seeds of 

 fennel and angelica. — Cucumis Cblocynthis, theColocynth or Bitter Cucum- 

 ber. This trailing annual is abundant in Turkey, and is " supposed by many to 

 be the plant described in the subjoined passage of holy writ : — 'And one went 

 out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof 

 wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage : for 

 he knew them not. So they poured out for the men to eat And it came 

 to pass, as they were eating pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou 

 man of God [herbalist ?], there is death in the pot. And they could not 

 eat thereof.' " Given in over-doses, it acts as a drastic purgative, to such 

 an extent as to bring on delirium ; which, after a time, goes off by drinking 



