110 Warden & Pedler—On the Nature of the [No. 1, 



aforesaid. A spoonful taken at a time liealeth the itch : and an ounce 

 or more taken at a time for some days together doth help the rupture." 

 Tt was the active ingredient in the vaunted " Portland Powder," a 

 so-called specific for gout. It is still occasionally sold in Paris as a 

 cosmetic under the name of Poudre de Cypre. The London Pharmo- 

 copaeia of 1788 orders a conserve in the proportion of half a pound of 

 the fresh root to a pound and a half of double refined sugar, beat 

 together in a mortar. The dose is a drachm for adults, and it is a 

 good form for the exhibition of the medicine." 



Regarding the employment of Arum in modern medical practice, 

 there is a note by Wm. Martindale in the British Medical Journal of 

 June 4th, 1881, which is worth recording. Martindale states, "it 

 having been shown (Pharm. Jour. 1880, p. 849) that the active drug 

 in the nostrum tonga was, in all probability, part of the stem of a 

 species of Hapliidophora, belonging to the natural order, Aracece, the 

 arum-juice was tried by a medical friend, in a case of obstinate neural- 

 gia which was relieved by tonga ; but the latter to the patient was an 

 expensive medicine. The succus in one drachm doses gave similar 

 relief, I was informed ; further than this I have not known it tried." 



Cases in which toxic symptoms ensued after the ingestion of arum 

 leaves and tubers are found scattered in many works on Medical Juris- 

 prudence, and also in certain medical journals. 



In Beck's Medical Jurisprudence, A. tyjphittum and A. tritohatuirh 

 are mentioned as being natives of the United States. Beck remarks 

 that they are all acrid and have produced dangerous effects, Orfila* 

 gave the fresh roots of A. maculatum to dogs, and found that they died 

 at the end of 24 to 36 hours without any other symptoms than dejection : 

 after death the digestive canal was found somewhat inflamed. Marzelt 

 also investigated the physiological action of the fresh root on dogs, and 

 found that it acted as a powerful irritant poison. BulliardJ relates the 

 following case of three children who had eaten the leaves of A. maculatum. 

 They were seized with horrible convulsions, and with two of them all 

 assistance was unavailing, as they could not be made to swallow any- 

 thing. One child died at the expiration of twelve days, and the second 

 four days later. The third child was saved with difficulty : its tongue 

 was greatly swelled, and hence deglutition was painful and difficult. 

 Cliristison§ states, " I have known acute burning pain of the mouth 

 *' and throat, pain of the stomach and vomiting, colic, and some diarr- 



* Orfila' s Toxicology, vol. ii, p. 83. 



t Marzel, B. Med. Gaz. 1881, p. 720. 



X Histoire des Plantes Veneneuses de la France. 



§ Christison on Poisons, p. 602. 



