632 



HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



This plant is extremely acrid, especially when 

 fresh; and if chewed and retained in the mouth, 

 excites great and long continued heat and inflam- 

 mation, particularly of the throat and fauces. The 

 berries also have the same efiects, and when 

 swallowed, prove a powerful corrosive poison not 

 only to man, but to dogs and other quadrupeds, 

 though birds feed on them with impunity. The 

 bark and berries formed into ointments and 

 infusions, have long been used as external appli- 

 cations to old ulcers and long continued sores. 

 In France the bark is used as an application 

 to the skin, and, under certain management, 

 produces a continued serous discharge without 

 blistering, and is thus rendered useful in many 

 clironic diseases of a local nature, answering the 

 purpose of what has been called a perpetual 

 blister, while it occasions little pain or incon- 

 venience. The mode of application is as follows : 

 A, square piece of the recent bark about an inch 

 long, and three-quarters of an inch broad, macer- 

 ated a little in vinegar, is applied to the skin, 

 over which is bound a leaf of ivy or plantain. 

 This application is at first renewed night and 

 morning, till it cauterises the part and brings on 

 a serous discharge, when a renewal of the bark 

 once in twenty-four hours is found sufficient to 

 continue the issue for any length of time. By 

 means of a piece of adhesive plaster, pieces of 

 the bark might thus be applied behind the ears, 

 or at the back of the neck, for diseases of the 

 eyes, &c. 



In an affection of the throat of three years' 

 standing, where there was great difficulty of 

 swallowing, Dr Withering directed the mezereon 

 root to be chewed frequently, and a complete 

 cure was thus effected in a month. The root of 

 the mezereon is very large, and possesses even 

 more acridity than the bark. Slices of the root 

 are frequently chewed in the mouth for tooth- 

 ache. 



Mezereon has also been employed in decoction, 

 either alone or joined with sarsaparilla in the 

 secondary forms of syphilis, and in the cure of 

 schirrous tumours. 



Akum, or Wake-Robin (arum maculatum); 

 monoeciapolyandria. This plant has already been 

 alluded to as yielding a farinaceous substance from 

 its roots. In a recent state the juice of this root, 

 which is extremely acrimonous, has been used as 

 a medicine. The plant grows wild in Britain, 

 and is in some respects remarkable. The root 

 is perennial, about the size of a large nut, and 

 sends off many long fibres. The leaves are com- 

 monly three or four, growing from each root. 

 These are an'o w-shaped, of a deep green or purplish 

 colour, with numerous veins and dark spots. The 

 flower stalk is very short ; the calyx is a sheath of 

 one leaf, large,o val, and inclosing the spadix, which 

 is round, club-shaped, fleshy, above of a purple 

 colour, below whitish, standing in the centre of 



the sheath, and supporting the parts necessary to 

 fructification. Towards the base are several oval 

 corpuscles or nectaries; next to them are placed 

 the antherse, under them are more nectaries; and 

 lastly, the germina with bearded stigmata. This 

 curious flower shows itself early in spring, but 

 the berries which follow do not ripen till late 

 in summer, when they appear in naked clusters, 

 of a bright scarlet colour. 



The root, when recent, contains a milky fluid, 

 which is extremely acrimonious, exciting a pain- 

 ful sensation of burning heat in the tongue and 

 mouth. When cut in slices and applied to the 

 skin, it produces a blister. By drying, it loses 

 this activity; and exposed to a sufficient heat for 

 a short time, there remains the starchy substance, 

 described in another place. 



The recent root does not impai-t its acrimony 

 to spirits, wine, or water; the juice, however, 

 is reckoned a powerful stimulant and diuretic, 

 not only exciting the languid digestive organs, 

 but also the whole system. By the ancients it 

 was used both externally and internally, but has 

 fallen into disuse in modern practice where fresh 

 herbs of any kind are so seldom resorted to. 



The root should be young, and slightly dried 

 in the shade and without heat. A scruple of 

 this root, pounded, or made into an emulsion 

 with gum Arabic, may be given once or twice a 

 day; or the fresh root pounded may be used 

 in the same way, in cases of rheumatism. 



It occasions a slight warmth in the stomach, 

 and afterwards promotes perspiration, and has 

 frequently been known to cure chronic rheuma- 

 tism and severe headaches, arising from nervous 

 debility of the stomach. 



Scurvy Grass {cochlearia officinalis); ietra- 

 di/namia, siliculosa. This plant is common on 



Scurvy Grass. 



our sea shores, as also in mountainous situations 

 in Britain. It is a perennial; the stems are 

 about a span high; the radical leaves are heart- 

 shaped, those of the stem ovate and deeply ser- 

 rated. The flowers are cruciform and terminate 

 the branches in thick clusters. It has an 

 unpleasant smell, and a warm acrid bitter taste. 

 As a medicine, it is aperient, diuretic, and gene- 

 rally stimulating. The fresh plant, eaten as a 



