CoNIUM MACULATUM. HeMLOCK 



CONIUM hlnnai Gen. PL Pentandria Digynia. 



Raii. Syn. Gen. n. Umbelliferje Herbje. 

 CONIUM maculaium feminibus ftriatis. Linn. Syfil. Vegetab. p. 229. 

 CICUTA Haller. hift. heh. n. y66. v. 1. p. 33J. 

 CONIUM maculatum. Scopoli PL Carnlol. p. 207; 

 CICUTA major Bauhin. Pin. 160. 

 CICUTA Gerard emac. 1061. 



CICUTA vulgaris major Parkin/on 923. Ra" % n * f* 2I 5* H u 4f°n Fl. Angl. p. 100. Storck. Cicut. SuppL p. 7. 

 t. 1. 



RADIX biennis, craffitudine digiti, longa ufque ad pe- $ ROOT biennial, the thicknefs of Ones finger, from fix 

 daiem, iii crura faepe divifa, junior! Paftinaca* & inches to a foot in length, frequently forked, 



haud diftimilis, odoris gravis, etfaporis 'u'odul- | and not unlike that of a young Parfnep, of a 



cis : fecundo anno in caulefcente planta iucco % difagreeable fmell and fweetifh tafte : in th 



fere caret, firma folidiorque evadit; | cond year of its growth when the plant ha 



I flowering ftem, it becomes drier, more firm and 



? folid. 



CAULIS orgyalis, teres, nitidus, laevis, fiftulofus, ad I STALK about fix inches high, round, mining, fmooth 

 bafin cramtie pollicis, rore glauco tcctus, et J and hollow, at bottom the thicknefs of ones 



maculis fanguineis pictus, verfus fummitatem | thumb, covered with a blueifh kind of powder 



ramofus, et {hiatus. * which eafily wipes off, and fpotted with red, to- 



ll wards the top branched and ftriated, 



FOLIA inferiora magna, etiam bipedalia, atro-virentia, | LEAVES. The bottom leaves large, even two feet long, 

 nitentia, multiplicato-pinnata, pinnulis oblongis % of a dark green colour and mining, many times 



incifo-ferratis ; Spatha fulcata. | pinnated, the pinnulae oblong and iharply cut in; 



% the Spatha grooved. 



INFLORESCENTIA. Umbella uhfoerfdis Radiis .pliifi- ? INFLORESCENCE. The Univerfal Umbell is compofed 

 mis patentibus ftriatis ; partialis confimilis. | of many {Mated and Spreading Radii ; the Par- 



£ tial Umbell fimilar to it. 



CALYX: Involucrum umverfale e foliolis 5—7 conftat, f CALYX • the Univerfal Involucrum con&fts of 5 or 7 leaves, 



- lanceolato acuminatis, reflexis, margine albidis, ^ which are lanceolate, turned back, and whitim 



fig. 1 ; partiale 3 aut 4 dimidiatis, extrorfum %. at the edges, fig. 1 : the Partial Involucrum is 



patentibus, fig. 2. . compofed of 3 or 4 leaves, which furround one 



I half of the ftalk only, and fpread outward, fig. 2. 



COROLLA: Petala quinque, alba, inaequalia, in- * COROLLA : Petals five, white, unequal, heart-fhaped, 



flexo-cordata, fig. 3. | and bent in at top, fig. 3 



STAMINA : Filament a quinque, alba, longitudine-t STAMINA: Filaments five, white, the length of the 



Corollas; Anthers albas, fig. 3. | Corolla; An t her m white, fig. 3. 



PISTILLUM : Styli duo, albi, filiformes, non admo- 4 PISTILLUM : Germen beneath the Corolla, ftriated, 

 dum breves ; Stigmata fubrotunda ; Ger- f fig. 3, 4; Styles two, filiform and not very 



men inferum, ftriatum, fig. 3, 4. | fhort; Stigmata round, fig. 3. 



FRUCTUS fubrotundus, e binis feminibus fufcefcenti- t FRUIT is roundifh, and compofed of two brownifh feeds, 

 bus componitur, hinc planivifculis, illinc gibbis, f flattifh on one fide and round on the other, with 



cum Jiriis quinque elevatis crenulatis, fig. 4, 5. | five notched and elevated ridges, fig. 4, r. 



THE powerfull deleterious properties of this herb have been long known and acknowledged by all botanic writers ; 

 whence it has been commonly ranged in the clafs of Vegetable Poifons. And as fuch active principles under 

 fkilful management, are likely to _arlord the molt efficacious remedies, this plant has been alfo admitted as an 

 article of the Materia Medica. Until lately however, the ufe of it was chiefly confined to external applications, 

 where its narcotic qualities may undoubtedly ailift in aflwaging pain, forwarding fuppuration, &c. But in the 

 year 1760, Dr. Storck, a famous Practitioner at Vienna, publifhed a treatiie on Hemlock, recommending 

 an extract made of the infpiflated juice of the herb to be taken internally, from four grains to fixty, or upwards, every . 

 day, as a cure for the Schrophula, Cancer, and others of the moil terrible and inveterate diforders incident to 

 the human body. 



Our Phyficians though laudably cautious of admitting or trufting to novelties, received Dr. Storck's publica- 

 tion with uncommon ardour, and perhaps no new medicine was ever more immediately or generally tried than 

 this Extrattum Cicuta. The fuccefs however not anfwering their expectation, led fome to think they had mifta- 

 ken the plant. , The Author was applied to, and this produced a fupplement (printed 1764) wherein the fpecies 

 is figured, and clearly fhewn to be the Conium maculatum of Linnaeus. It were to be wifhed this had cleared 

 up all difficulties. In his firft treatife the Doctor tells us that the frefh root fliced, yielded a bitter acrid milk, of 

 which a fingle drop or two being applied to the tip of his . tongue, prefently rendered it painful, rigid, and 

 fo much fwelled that he could not fpeak, Yet it is certain that the roots of our Hemlock may be chewed 

 and fwallowed in confiderable quantities without producing any fenfible effect. Mr. Alchorne (who I believe 

 was the firft that laudably exerted himfelf in investigating this matter,) allures me that he has tried, this in 

 every feafon of the Year, and in moll parts of our Ifland, without finding any material difference : and that 



he 



