54G 



HISTORY OF THK VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



In diseases of the skin it is still employed 

 with success, especially as an external applica- 

 tion in the foiin of an ointment. 



Black Hellebobe {helleborus niger) CHitisi^ 

 MAS Rose. Ranunculacoos. The root is peren- 

 nial, rough, knotted, and externally of a black 

 colour, internally white, and sends off many 

 strong, round fibres. The flower stalks are 

 erect, round, tapering, and red towards the 

 base. The bracteal leaves supply the place of 

 a calyx, and are oval, concave, and generally 

 indented at the top. The flower is large, with 

 five whitish petals, tinted on the edges of a pink 

 hue. The capsules, or pods, contain numerous, 

 shining, blackish seeds. The leaves are com- 

 pound, and are divided in a peculiar manner, or 

 pedated. There are two pairs on each side, 

 with a solitary centre leaf. It is a native of 

 Austria and Italy, and was introduced into the 

 gardens of this country by Gerard, in 1596. In 

 mild weather it flowers in January, and hence 

 has been called the Christmas flower. It is often 

 confounded with other species, and hence the 

 uncertainty of its supposed effects in medical 

 experience. 



The taste of the fresh root is bitter and some- 

 what acrid, leaving on the tongue a benumbed 

 sensation, as of a loss of taste, similar to what 

 occurs when the tongue is burnt with a drop of 

 hot liquid. It also emits a strong nauseous 

 smell; both these qualities, however, are impaired 

 by drying and keeping. In its most active state 

 its effects on the constitution are violent, and 

 often dangerous. By the ancients it was em- 

 ployed as a purgative in cases of madness, and 

 other diseases where there was obstinate costive- 

 ness. In modern practice it is much less em- 

 ploj'ed; and chiefly in small doses, as an alter- 

 ative in obstructions of the uterine discharge, 

 and in dropsies. 



An extract prepared by dissolving the root in 

 water, and then evaporating it, is that prepara- 

 tion most employed; and it is given in doses 

 varying from two to ten, and twenty grains, 

 according to the object in view. 



The Latin poets and writers have frequent 

 allusions to this drug, and describe it as growing 

 on the island of Antioyra, and about mount 

 Olympus. Tournefort saw a species of this 

 plant growing in great plenty in those localities. 



Fetid Hellebore, or Beards- foot (li. fatidus), 

 is another species which has been long used in 

 Yorkshire and other places, by the country 

 people, as a cure for the long round worm in 

 children. The juice is an acrid and nauseous 

 substance, and owes its virtues to its cathartic 

 qualities. It is a native of many parts of England, 

 and flowers in July. 



Meadow Saffiion", or Colchicum, (colcliicum 

 autiimnalej. Natural family liliacece; hexan- 

 dria, trigpiia, of Linna?us. This pla,nt is com- 



mon in meadow grounds in England. It was 

 first recommended to the attention of medical 

 men by Baron Stoerck, of Vienna, and has lat- 

 terly, again, come into considerable repute as a 

 medicine. 



The root is a perennial, succulent bulb, from 

 which rises a long tube containing th6 flower, 

 which is large, and of a purple colour. This 

 flower appears in September, while the leaves 

 make their appearance in the following spring. 

 The active nature of the root varies probably 

 according to age, and the nature of the soil. In 

 its fresh state, it is acrid, pungent, and affects 

 the stomach and bowels. From various obser- 

 vations made on the eff'ects of colchicum by 

 Baron Stoerck, and especially upon the infusion 

 of three grains of the fresh root in four ounces 

 of wine, he remarked, that its diuretic power 

 was very considerable; and therefore concluded, 

 that if its deleterious acrimony were destroyed, 

 it might prove a useful medicine. Accordingly, 

 he digested an ounce of the recent root in a 

 pound of vinegar for forty-eight hours, with a 

 gentle heat; the vinegar being then strained, it 

 proved acrid to the taste, irritated the fauces, 

 and excited a slight cough, to obviate which, he 

 mixed the vinegar with twice its weight of honey, 

 and gently boiled it down to the consistence of 

 honey, forming an oxymal sufiiciently grateful, 

 and which, taken in doses of a dram, acted on 

 the urinary organs, and also on tlie mucous 

 membranes of the throat and lungs. 



An infusion of the root in wine or vinegar is 

 now commonly employed; and is found a most 

 useful medicine in rheumatism, gout, and dropsy. 



The leaves and roots of the common dafibdil, 

 narcissus, and other species of the family liliacece, 

 are also possessed of acrid, purgative, and emetic 

 qualities. 



We recollect an instance where the leaves of 

 the common daffodil were taken by a cook for 

 leeks, and put into broth, the consequence of 

 which was, that on two occasions where the 

 broth was eaten, all those that partook of it 

 were seized with sickness and vomiting. The 

 circumstance excited considerable alarm and 

 oonjectiire, until at last the mysteiy was cleared 

 up by the mistake of the cook having been 

 detected. 



CHAP. L. 



NAECOTIC PLANTS OPinM, HEMLOCK, nENBANE, 



BELLADONNA, &C. 



The vegetable substances contained in this 

 chapter, are characterised by possessing a peculiar 

 principle called narcotic, which acts on the ner- 

 vous system, in the first instance, it is supposed. 



