226 EXGMSn BOTANY. 



Vienna. Dioscorides despribcs it accurately, but only as a poison. In large doses 

 it is an irritant poison ; but carefully administered, it is a useful remedy in many 

 diseases, and is retained in the " British Pharmacopoeia." The seeds and bulb 

 are the officinal parts, and are both indebted for their action to a peculiar alka- 

 loid known to chemists as colchicin. Dr. Taylor records several instances of fatal 

 poisoning by Colchicum, both by swallowing the seeds and by taking an overdose 

 of the tincture by mistake. Dr. Christison considers Colchicum to be a powerful 

 sedative of the circulation, and to this action, he says, " may probably be ascribed its 

 well-known power of subduing the paroxysm of gout, and checking the progress of 

 subacute or gouty rheumatism." It is to this power of arresting gout, established 

 by the late Sir Everard Home, that Colchicum owes its extensive introduction into 

 practice ; but its effect on the system is such that many physicians object to its constant 

 use. It increases the action of the kidneys, and acts as an aperient, reheving the 

 excitement of the ner\'ous system. The celebrated ea?t iiiedicinale, which acquired 

 great fame duiing the la.st century as a remedy for gout, owed its properties chiefly 

 to this plant. The roots for medical use should be collected about Midsummer, after 

 the leaves have withered, as they then possess more of their active qualities than at 

 anv other time. Large quantities are sent to the London herb shops from Gloucester- 

 shire and Oxfordshire, where its large purple blossoms may be seen covering the 

 fields in the autumn months, like the crocus, but without the protection of leaves, 

 which wither soon after the spi-ing. The seeds should be gathered in May as soon 

 as they are ripe. Dr. Lindley relates the case of a woman who was poisoned by the 

 sprouts of Colchicum, which had been thro^\-n away in Covent Garden Market, and 

 which she mistook for onions. As the plant is as injuiious to most animals as to 

 man, it should be destroyed in fields, for cattle will sometimes crop the leaves in the 

 spring. 



EXCLUDED SPECIES. 



SCILLA BIPOLIA. Mm. 



Engl. Bot. ed. i. No. 24. 



Said to have been sent to Mr. Sims of Norwich from the Avest of 

 England. Smith says there is a specimen in Buddie's Herbarium; 

 but the only recent instance of its occurrence in Britain was the find- 

 in"- of a few plants of it at Tcignmouth, Devon, by Mrs. Gulson, 

 who forwarded fi'esh specimens to Mr. G. Worthington Smith. At 

 my request, Mr. Smith was good enough to apply to the lady for 

 fui-ther information, and her reply was that she " found only a few 

 specimens which she brought into her garden, and that the plant was 

 not now to be found in the neighbourhood." 



ALLIUM CARINATUM. Lmn. 



The Rev. M. J. Berkeley lately announced that this plant had 

 occurred near Newark, and he was kind enough to send me a 



