90 



MEDICAL BOTANY. 



noticed. In a late work on the subject by Dr. Fleming, he attempts to show 

 that this is the only species possessing active properties, with the exception 

 of the A.ferox ; and that the A. cammarum and others, recognised as offi- 

 cinal by the various colleges of pharmacy, &c, are feeble and unimportant 

 in their action. In this view of the subject, he is in some degree supported 

 by Gieger ; but the evidence of other experimenters goes to prove that most 

 of the species, in their wild state, are possessed of extremely active and poi- 

 sonous properties. Dr. Fleming appears to have employed cultivated plants 

 in his experiments, and hence may have been led into error as to the real 

 powers of the different species. 



A. napellus, Linn. — Upper sepal arched behind ; spur of upper petals nearly conical 

 and deflexed, leaves palmate, segments cuneate. 



Linn. Sp. PI. 751 ; Stephenson and Churchill, Med. Bot. i. 28; Wood- 

 ville, Med. Bot. t. 165 ; Lindley, Flor. Med. 11. 

 Common Names. — Wolfsbane, Monkshood, &c. 



Fig- 54. Description. — Root simple or fusi- 



form, woody. Stem erect, simple. 

 Leaves palmate, deeply cleft, alternate. 

 Flowers of a dark violet, or blue colour, 

 in a terminal raceme, pedicels short. 

 The petaloid sepals are five ; the upper 

 being- helmet -shaped and concealing 

 the petals, the lateral broad, rounded, 

 the lower oblong and deflexed. The pe- 

 tals are usually not more than two; and 

 are supported on a peduncle or claw, 

 and have a hooked spur, and a bifid, 

 revolute lip. The stamens are filiform, 

 converging, with whitish anthers. The 

 ovaries are from 3 to 5, with simple 

 reflected stigmas. The capsules, which 

 answer in number to the ovaries, con- 

 tain many wrinkled, angular seeds. 



This species varies much in 

 the colour and size of its flowers, 

 especially in a cultivated state, 

 and is much prized as an orna- 

 ment to the garden. It is a na- 

 tive of most parts of Europe, in 

 mountain forests and plains, flow- 

 ering in May and June. It was 

 well known to the ancients, being 

 mentioned by Ovid and Pliny. 

 It was considered as the most 

 virulent of all poisons, and was 

 a. napellus. employed to destroy criminals 



condemned to death. The root is the most powerful ; but every portion of 

 the plant is possessed of highly deleterious properties. It has been asserted, 

 that the mere smell of the herb in full flower is capable of affecting some 

 persons with untoward symptoms. It loses much of its poison by drying; 

 thus Linnaeus states that it is fatal to cattle browsing upon it, but is innocuous 

 to them when mixed with hay in a dry state. Many accidents have been re- 

 corded, where persons have died from using it in mistake for some other 



