VALERIANA. 



;,ilcd in the fame way, being allowed good room, as it 

 ipreads much. The three toUowing forts are more difficult 

 to preferve, requiring a flony foil and cold expofure. The 

 ninth fort may be raifed from feeds fown in a moid: fliady 

 border foon after they are ripe, managing the plants as in 

 the firil fort. The tenth fort, as well as the fourth, are 

 inoilly cultivated as medicinal plants, for which purpofe 

 they (hould be difpofed in beds with others of the fame 

 Icind. They may be railed by parting the roots, as well as 

 by the feeds. The laft fort, when cultivated for the pur- 

 pofe of lallads, (hould be fown in the latter end of fummer, 

 or beginning of autumn, in an open place, where it is to 

 grow ; the plants being afterwards thinned out by hoeing, and 

 kept clean from weeds ; when they will be fit for ufe very 

 early in the fpring while quite young. 



AH the forts, except the laft, may be introduced in the 

 borders, for the purpofe of variety, and moft of them con- 

 tinue many years. They may all be had at the proper plant- 

 ing feafons, as the autumn, winter, and fpring, in the pub- 

 lic nurfery gardens. 



The laft is ufed as an early fpring fallad-herb. 

 Valeriana, in the Materia Medica. There ai-e various 

 kinds of valerian ; but thofe chiefly in medical ufe are the 

 large garden valerian, Valeriana hortenjis ; called by Diof- 

 corides Ifv, phii, folio olufatri; and the "Valeriana fylvejlris, or 

 great wild valerian. 



The former is an ingredient in Venice treacle ; its chief 

 life is in diforders of the nerves ; in which refpeft, however, 

 it is held inferior to the latter. 



The luild -valerian, ■Valeriana officinalis of Linnxus, or 

 •oahriana fylniejlris major montana of Bauhin, is perennial, and 

 grows wild in dry mountainous places. The root confifts 

 of tough ftrings, with numerous fmaller threads, matted 

 together, iffuing from one head, of a duflcy-brownifti colour 

 approaching to olive. Cows eat the leaves, and cats are 

 very fond of the roots. Rats are alfo faid to be equally 

 fond of thefe roots, and rat-catchers employ them to draw 

 the rats together. Another fpecies, or variety, of wild 

 valerian is met with in moift watery grounds, diftinguilhable 

 by the leaves being broader, and of a deep glolfy-green 

 colour. Both forts have been ufed indifcriminately ; but 

 the mountain fort is much the moft efficacious, and is, 

 therefore, exprefsly oi-dered for the officinal fpecies by the 

 London College. 



. The mountain -valerian, or narrow-leaved variety of this 

 fpecies, not exceeding two feet in height, and affefting dry 

 heaths and high pai^ures, is chiefly in repute : its root 

 manifefts ftronger fenfible qualities, and poffefles more medi- 

 cinal power : its fmell is ftrong, referabhng that of a mix- 

 ture of aromatics with fetids, and it has an unpleafant, warm, 

 bitten fh, fubacrid tafte : the ftrength of tiie fmell and 

 tafte is the only certain teft of its genuinenefs and goodnefs. 

 It is a medicine of great efteem againft obftinate hemicraniie, 

 hyfterical and the different kinds of nervous diforders, and 

 is commonly confidered as one of the principal antifpaf- 

 modics. Diofcorides and Galen mention it as an aromatic 

 and diuretic. Columna reports, that he was cured by it of 

 an inveterate epilepl'y after many other medicines had been 

 ufed in vain. 



M. Marchant, in the Memoirs of the Academy of 

 Sciences, has confirmed this virtue, by many inftances withm 

 his own knowledge : and what is very remarkable is, that m 

 the two obfervations he enlarges moft upon, the patients, on 

 taking it, voided great quantities of worms. His cuftom 

 was always to purge before he adminiftered it. 



On more extenfive trials it has been found, in fome epi- 

 leptic cafes, to rfl"ea a cure, in feveral to abate the violence 



or frequency of the fits, and in many to prove .illogether 

 ineffectual ; oftentimes it either purges or operates by fwcat 

 or by unrine, or brings away worms, before it prevents a 

 fit. The dofe of the root in powder is from a fcruple to a 

 drachm or two, which may be repeated, if the ftomach will 

 bear it, two or three times a day. Dr. Withering fays, 

 that in habitual coftivenefs it is an excellent medicine ; and 

 frequently loofens the bowels when other ftronger pur- 

 gatives have been tried in vain. A remarkable inllance of 

 its efficacy in a catalepfy is given by Mr. Mudge (on the 

 ■vis vitte, isfc. ) ; dofes of half an ounce of the powder were 

 exhibited twice a day, and a lefs quantity was found in- 

 effeftual. 



The advantages faid to be derived from this root in 

 epilepfy, caufed it to be tried in feveral other complaints 

 denominated nervous, particularly thofe produced by in- 

 creafed mobihty and irritabihty of the n»rvous fyftem, in 

 which it has been found highly ferviceable. Bergius ftatea 

 its virtue to be antifpafmodic, diaphoretic, emmenagogue, 

 diuretic, and anthelmintic. And under the head of its ufe, 

 he enumerates epilepfy, convulfions, hyfteria, hemicrania, 

 and vifus hebitudo. Fordyce commends it in this laft 

 difeafe. Whytt, who joined it with manna, experienced 

 its utility in epilepfy. Joined with guaiacum, Morgan 

 found it ufeful in refolving glandular or ftrumous tumours. 

 Dr. CuUen allows, that its antilpafmodic powers are well 

 eftabliihed, and he thinks it fliould be given in larger dofes 

 than thofe that are commonly ufed. Accordingly he has 

 found it frequently ufeful in epileptic, hyfteric, and other 

 fpafmodic affedlions. It is faid, however, that it has been 

 fometimes given in cafes of epilepfy, to the extent of two 

 ounces a day without effeft ; and Dr. Woodville obferves, 

 that his own experience warrants him in faying, that it 

 feldom has been found to anfwer the expeftation of the 

 prefcriber. 



The powdered root, infufed in water, or oigefted in 

 rectified fpirit, impregnates both menftrua ftrongly with its 

 fmell and tafte, and tinges the former of a dark brown, and 

 the latter of a brownifh-red colour. Water diftilled from 

 it fmells confiderably of the root, but no eflential oil fepa- 

 rates : the extraft obtained by infpiflating the watery in- 

 fufion, which is about one-fourth the weight of the root, has 

 a pretty ftrong tafte, difagreeably fweetifti, and fomewhat 

 bittcrilh : ftie fpirituous extraft, which is about one-eighth 

 the weight of the root, is lefs difagrecable, and more per- 

 feftly refembles the root itfelf. 



Tinftures of it are prepared in the fliops, by digefting 

 four ounces of the powdered valerian in a quart of proof- 

 fpirit, in the fame quantity of the volatile aromatic tpirit, or 

 of the dulcified fpirit of i'al ammoniac. The root in fub- 

 ftance, however, is generally found to be more cffedlual than 

 any preparation of it : and its flavour may beft be covered 

 with mace. Lewis and Woodville. 



VALERIANELLA, in Botany, the diminutive of Va- 

 leriana, fee that article and Fedia. 



VALERIANO BOLZANl, PiEuio,m Biography, v/3i 

 born at Belluno, in 1477, in fuch a low condition, that he 

 had no opportunity of acquiring the firft elements of lite- 

 rature till he attained the age of fifteen years. After having 

 been reduced to the neceffity of entering into the fervice of 

 a noble perfon at Venice for fupport, he devoted himfelf to 

 ftudy under eminent teachers ; and agreeably to the pradtice 

 of the age in which he lived, changed his baptilmal name 

 of Giampietro for Pierio. In his 23d year he engaged 

 in the ftudy of philofophy at Padua, and paft'ed three years 

 in a retreat at mount Olivet, in the Vcronefc. Upon his re- 

 turn to his.^ative place, he found it poflefled by the imperial 



.irmy 



