JUNIPERUS. 



■Sark purple colour, ripen in the autumn. They are chiefly 

 'brought to us from Holland nr.d Italy ; and (houlJ be 

 c'nofen frefh, not much fluivcUed, and free from mouldincfs. 

 Their fmell is moderately ftronsr, but not difagrccaiile, and 

 their tafte is warm, pungent, and fweetilli, which, after tliey 

 have been long chewed, or previoufly well bruifcd, is fol- 

 lowed by a confiderable degree of bitternefs. The fvveet- 

 hefs of thefe berries appears to rsllde in the juice, or foft 

 pulpy part ; the bitternefs in tlie feeds ; and the aromatic 

 flavour ia oily veficles, fprend throughout the fubftance, 

 both of the pulp and of the feeds, and didinguiiTiable even 

 by the eye. Tlie frefh berries yield, on exprefiion, a rich, 

 fweet, honey-hke, aromatic juice ; and if the feeds are tho- 

 roughly broken, tlie juice proves tart and bitter. 



Juniper berries give out nearly all their virtue, both to 

 water and redlified fpirit, tinging the former of a browniili- 

 yellow, and the latter of a bright orange colour. Dillilled 

 with water, they yield a yellowifh effential oil, very fiibtile 

 find pungent, refembling the berries in fmell, and in quantity, 

 ivhen tlie berries have been fuHlciently bruifed, about one 

 ounce from forty. This oil is a very ftimu'ating diuretic ; 

 the decotlion infpifiated to the confiftence of a rob or cx- 

 traft, has a pleafant, balfamic, fweet tafle, widi a greater 

 or lefi degree of bitternefs. A part of the flavour of the 

 b?rri;.-s arifcs alfo in diftillations with reftilied fpirit : the in- 

 fpilfated tinfture confills of two diJlinft fubllances ; one 

 oily and fweet ; the other tenacious, refmous, and aromatic. 

 The e>;tra3; may be ufed wiih advantage in cafes where the 

 more ftimulating preparations would be improper ; as in ca- 

 tarrhs, debihties of the ftomach and inteilines, and diffi- 

 culties of the urinary excretion?, in pcrfons of an advanced 

 age. Among the aromatics that iiave been tried in compofi- 

 tion with juniper berries, fncet fennel feeds, and carraway 

 feeds, feem the bell adapted to improve their flavour. A 

 cordial water is prepared in the fhops, by drawing off a 

 gallon of proof-fpiiit from a pound of the berries, and an 

 ounce and a half of each of the feeds. To this water may 

 be ufefully fuper-added, a proper quantity of the rob. 

 Lewis. 



The berries are chiefly ufed for their diuretic effefts ; and 

 they arc alfo confidered to be ftomachic, carminative, and 

 diaphoretic. We have feveral tellimonies in favour of the 

 efficacy of juniper berries in many hydropical affeftions by 

 phyficians of great authority ; but authors do not leem to 

 b; perfeclly agreed which preparation of the juniper is mod 

 efficacious ; many preferring the rob or infpiiTated decoc- 

 tion ; but Dr. Cullen obfervcs, that this is an inert medi- 

 cine, alleging that to the effential oil, which is much the 

 fame as that of turpentine, only of a more agreeable odour, 

 he thinks all the virtues afcribed to the dilferent parts of 

 juniper are to be referred. Hoffman, on the contrary. 



llrongly recommends the rob, and declares it to be of great 

 ufe in debility of the ftomach and inteilines ; and he found 

 it to be particularly ferviceable to fuch old people as are 

 fubject to thefe diforders, or labour under a difficulty with 

 regard to the urinary excretion ; whence it appears, that 

 the berries retain medicinal powers, though deprived of the 

 medicinal effcfts of the effential oil. Van Swicten prefcribed 

 the following formula: R. Rob. bacc. junip. Jii; dilue in 

 aqua junip. th'' > add. fpirit. bacc. junip. ^ii ; quandoque 

 fpiritus nilri dulcis |ij ad fitim fedandam additur. Of this 

 mixture one or two ounces were given every three hours. 

 But juniper being now feldom or ever relied upon for tlie 

 cure- of dropties, and only ufed in aid of more powerful re- 

 medies, it is jullly obferved by Duncan (New Ed. Difp.) 

 that " perhaps one of the bell forms under whicii the berries 

 ciin be ufed is that of a fim.ple infalion. This by itfclf, or 

 Vox.. XIX. 



with the addition of a little gin, is a very ufefiil drink for 

 hydropic patients." Medical writers have alfo fpokcn of 

 the utility of juniper in nephritic cafes, uterine obftruftions, 

 fcorbutic all'cctions, and fome cutaneous difeafes ; and in tlw 

 two lall -mentioned complaints, the wood and tops of the 

 plant are faid to have been employed witli greater adviuitage 

 than the bc-rrics. Our Pharmacopeias direct the effential oil 

 and a fpiiituous dillillation of the juniper berries to be kept 

 in the fliops : tiie former, in dofes of two or three drops, is 

 found to be an active and ftimulating medicine ; the latter 

 contains this oil, and that of fome other aromatic feeds 

 united to the fpirit, and therefore differs not ccnfiderabiv 

 from the genuine geneva imjjortcd from Holland : but there 

 is great reafon to believe, that the gin ufuaily fold iieie K 

 frequently nothing but the frumentaceous fpirit, imbued 

 with turpentine, or other materials to give it a flavour. 

 Woodv. Med. Bot. 



Etmuller had a high opinion of juniper berries. The rob 

 made of the exprcffod juice of the green berries has been 

 called by many, the tkeriaca Gtrmanonn.-i ; fo much are 

 they eftcemed by that nation for their aicxipharraic qua-, 

 litie.s. 



The wood of juniper, it is faid, will laft a hundred years 

 xvithout corrupting ; the chemifts add, that a coal of juni- 

 per, covered with afhes of the fame kind, will keep on ilrc 

 an entire year. 



From this juniper, the gum fandaracha i;i obtained : it 

 exudes through the crevices of the bark, or the perforations 

 made by infects. 



The bark of the Jmuperus Lyc'ia yields the officinal 

 gummy refinous fubftance, called Olibanum. See FilA^;K- 

 IXCF.Nsi; and Olib.'VNU.m. 



Th.e Jun'ipents Sab'tna, or common favin, is a native of the 

 fouth of Europe and the Levant : it I'.as been long cdrivated 

 in our gardens ; and from producing male and female flowers 

 on feparate plants, it was formerly diftinguifiied into the 

 barren and beriy-bearing favin. The leaves and tops of 

 favin have a moderately ftrong fmell, fomewhat difagreeable, 

 and a hot, bitterifh, acrid tafte : they give OHt part of their 

 active matter to watery liquors, and tlie whole to rectified 

 ■' ' ' ' a large 



Hoffm; 

 five ounces of this oil, in which tlie whole virtue of the 

 plant feems to refide. Decoftions of the leaves, infpifiated 

 to the confiftence of an extract, retain a confiderable fhare 

 of their pungency and warmth along with their bitternefs, 

 and have fome degree of fmell, not refembluig that of the 

 plant itfelf. On infpifTation of the fpirituous tiiidlure, there 

 remains an extraft, confifting of two diftii.ft fubftances, of 

 which one is yellow, unftuous or oily, bitterilh, and very 

 pungent ; the other black, refinous, tenacious, lefs pun- 

 gent, and fuballringent. Lewis' Mat. Med. 



Savin is a powerful and active medicine, and has been long 

 reputed the mofl efficacious in the Materia Medica, for pro- 

 ducing a determination to the utcras, and thereby proving 

 emmenagogue : it heats and ftimulatcs the whole fyftcni 

 very confiderably, and is faid to promote the fluid fccretions. 

 Its force in overcoming interior obftruftions is fo great, 

 that it is faid to have been employed, and too fuccefsl'ully, 

 for purpofes the moft infamous and unnatural. It has, how- 

 ever, fometimes failed as au emmenagogue, which has, in 

 fome meafure, been afcribed to the fmallucfs of the dofe 

 given by phyficians. Dr. Hume (fee Clinical Exper.) 

 iecms to have had very great fucccfs with this medicine ; 

 for in five cafes of amenorrhoea, which occurred at the 

 Royal Infirmary at Edinburgh, four were cured by the 

 fabina, adininiftcrcd in powder from a fcruple to a dram 

 4 H twice 



fpirit. Diftilled with water, they yield a large quantity of 

 cftL-ntial oil. From thirty-tvvo ounces Hoffman obtained 



