94 MEDICAL BOTANY. 



ix. 1) but with no very definite results ; no peculiar principle was detected, 

 the powers of the root appearing to depend on a somewhat volatile oil and a 

 bitter resin, both soluble in alcohol, and partially so in water. 



The Cimicifuga is generally given in a decoction made with an ounce of 

 the root to a pint of water, the dose being one or more fluid ounces several 

 times a day. 



Act^ea. — Linn. 



Sepals 4-5. Petals 4-8, spatulate. Stamens indefinite ; anthers introrse. Stigma 

 sessile. Carpels solitary, baccate, many-celled. Seeds compressed, smooth, horizontal. 



A small genus of perennial herbs, with leaves 2-3-ternately divided, and 

 flowers in simple, white racemes. The species are found in the temperate 

 regions of both hemispheres, and appear to be very analogous in their pro- 

 perties. As established by Linnaeus, this genus contained several plants differing 

 materially in essential characters, but has since been modified by more modern 

 botanists. 



A. spicata. — Linn. — Berries roundish. Petals as long as the stamens. Raceme ovate. 

 Leaves 2-3 ternate. 



Linn. Sp. PI. 722 ; Eng. Bot. 918 ; Lindley, Fl. Med. 12. 

 Common names. — Bane-berry, Herb Christopher. 



Foreign names. — Herbe St. Christophe, Fr ; Achentragendes Schwaz- 

 kraut, Ger. ; Barba di Capra, It. 



Description. — Root creeping and perennial. Whole plant smooth or slightly pubescent, 

 about a foot and a half high. Stem triangular, leafy, but little branched. Leaves petio- 

 lated, twice or thrice ternate ; leaflets ovate, lobed, unequally serrate. Flowers white, in 

 a terminal, solitary ovate spike ; pedicels simple, downy, bracteate at base. Sepals four, 

 deciduous. Petals spatulate. Stamens subulate. Ovary ovate with a round sessile 

 stigma. Berries purplish-black, succulent. 



This plant is found in many parts of Europe, most frequently in mountain- 

 ous woods. The whole plant is nauseous and fcetid. The root is a violent 

 purgative, somewhat, analogous in its effects to hellebore. The berries are 

 poisonous, as is indicated by one of the common names of the plant. Lin- 

 naeus states [Flor. Lappon,) that they cause violent delirium and death, and 

 Dr. Lemercier, of Rochefort, found that they induced a species of intoxica- 

 tion followed by much disturbance of the cerebral functions, and irritation of 

 the digestive organs. (Merat fy De Lens.) These effects appear to depend 

 on a volatile principle which is soon dissipated, as the dried plant may be ad- 

 ministered in large doses without any ill consequences. 



Medical uses, fyc. — It is seldom employed internally, but a decoction of it 

 is said to cure itch when applied externally, and also to destroy lice with as 

 much certainty as the stavesacre. 



There are two species, natives of the United States, the A. rubra and A. 

 alba, the latter of which is very similar to the A. spicata. They are readily 

 distinguished by the colour of their berries ; their physical qualities, however, 

 are identical, and both possess the deleterious qualities of the foreign plant. 

 They are seldom used except in mistake for the Cimicifuga, with which they 

 have been confounded by many writers ; thus Merat & De Lens attribute all 

 the properties of the Cimicifuga to the Aetata, mistaking one plant for the 

 other, and state that they are indiscriminately employed by American physi- 



