278 f MEDICAL BOTANY. 



vented paroxysms of it in himself, by partaking of this fruit very freely. They 

 have also been recommended as having vermifuge properties, and as being 

 useful in phthisis. In some persons, they always induce an eruption, resem- 

 bling nettle-rash, with a derangement of the digestive organs. 



The leaves are somewhat astringent, and have been recommended in bowel 

 complaints, but are much inferior to the Blackberry-root and other articles of 

 the class. The roots are used in Europe as diuretics, and are frequently given 

 in dysuria in infusion, made with an ounce to the pint of water; they also 

 enter into the composition of many drinks in gonorrhoea, &c. A water dis- 

 tilled from the fruit or from the whole plant, was at one time in some repute 

 as a cosmetic, but is at present seldom or never used. 



Potentill a . — Linn. 



Tube of calyx concave, border 4 — 5-cleft, externally 4 — 5-bracteolate. Petals 4 — 5. 

 Stamens numerous. Carpels numerous. Style lateral. Receptacle procumbent, persis- 

 tent, dry. 



Linnseus established two genera, Potentilla and Tormentilla, which differ 

 from each other in so slight a degree that Sibthorpe reunited them into one 

 under the first of these names; in this he is followed by most of the modern 

 authorities. The only character that might justify a separation of them, is 

 the difference of the receptacle; but this scarcely amounts to more than a sec- 

 tional distinction. The genus is a very extensive one, and consists of herba- 

 ceous and suffruticose plants, with pinnate or pinnately-compound leaves. 

 The flowers are generally white or yellow, but in a few species red or purple. 

 They are almost universally natives of the northern hemisphere. 



P. tormentilla, Sibthorp. — Stem ascending, dichotomous. Leaves ternate, cauline ones 

 sessile. Stipules none or 3-toothed. Carpels rugose. Receptacles villose. 



Sibthorp, Fl. Ox. 162 ; Tormentilla erecta, Linn., Sp. PI. 716; Wood- 

 ville, i. t. 9 ; Stephenson and Churchill, i. 26 ; T. officinalis, Eng. Bot. t. 863. 

 Common Names. — Common Tormentil ; Septfoil. 

 Foreign Names. — Tormentil, Fr.; Tormentilla, i£.; Tormentil wurzel, Gr. 



Description. — Root large, perennial, woody, irregular, dark brown. Stems several, 

 erect or somewhat procumbent, round, slender, branched towards the top. Leaves mostly 

 sessile, and composed of three oblong, acute, deeply-serrated leaflets, somewhat hairy and 

 paler beneath, dark-green above, furnished with small, deeply-cut stipules. The flowers 

 are small, solitary, of a bright yellow colour, supported on long, slender, axillary, or ter- 

 minal peduncles. The calyx is hairy, and composed of 4 — 5 segments, with an equal 

 number of bracts. The petals are 4 — 5, obcordate, unguiculate. The stamens are nume- 

 rous, with subulate filaments, shorter than the corolla, with roundish anthers. The styles 

 are lateral and deciduous, on small ovaries. The achenia are ovate, obscurely wrinkled, 

 smooth, and seated on a small, depressed, hairy receptacle. 



This plant is a native of many parts of Europe, growing in barren pas- 

 tures and bushy places. It was early known and employed in medicine as a 

 remedy in bowel diseases, and it is said that its name of Tormentilla is de- 

 rived from tormentum, a pain or griping. The part used is the root, which, 

 when dried, is in irregular pieces, more or less cylindrical, knotty, and tu- 

 berculated. Externally, it is of a dark reddish-brown colour, internally 

 reddish. Its smell is faint, and its taste astringent. It contains tannin, gummy 

 extractive, gum, bitter extractive, a little resin, cerine and myricin, &c. 



Medical Properties. — Tormentil root is an astringent of moderate powers, 

 but is serviceable in many cases, as it produces its astringent effects Without 





