acon] 



&i)z Cira^uro of $j0tang. 



12 



aconite when the leaves and flowers, which I 

 are so unmistakable, have died away. The 

 rootstock of the horse-radish is much larger 

 than that of the aconite, not of a tapering 

 form, dirty yellow externally, and the top 

 or crown marked with transverse scars, in- 

 dicating the position of the old leaves ; its 



Aconitum Napellus. 



dour and taste are at first pungent and 

 acrid. The venom of the aconite appears 

 to depend upon the presence of an alkaloid 

 called Aconitina, which is so extremely 

 poisonous that so small a dose as one- 

 flftieth part of a grain has wellnigh pro- 

 duced fatal results. A tincture of aconite 

 root, or a solution of the alkaloid, is occa- 

 sionally used with much success as an ap- 

 plication to relieve rheumatic pains, but 

 it should be employed with the greatest 

 caution. 



Aconitum variegatum is also commonly 

 cultivated ; it has, as its name implies, 

 flowers variegated with white and blue. 



Aconitum Lycoctonum, or Wolfsbane, is a 

 common plant in the Alps of Switzerland 

 and Styria. Its leaves are palmate and 



Aconitum Lycoctonum (flower). 



hairy, of a dull yellowish green. Its flowers, 

 which are borne in slightly branching 

 clusters, are of a dull yellowish colour. 



knob at the extremity. This species does 

 not possess such virulent properties as the 

 others. [M. T. M.] 



ACONTIAS. A genus of plants so named 

 in allusion to the spots on the stem, which 

 resemble those of a species of serpent so 

 called. The genus belongs to the Caladium 

 tribe of the arum family, and has tuberous 

 rootstocks, lobed pedate leaves, green 

 erect spathes, enclosing a spadix or fleshy 

 spike, with female flowers at the lower 

 portion, and male flowers at the upper. 

 The species inhabit Brazil. [M. T. M.] 



ACORE ODORANT. (Fn) Acorus Cala- 

 mus. 



ACORIDIUM. A genus of csespitose 

 plants, natives of Manilla. They have slen- 

 der stems, sheathed at the base, and bear 

 dioecious flowers in a linear spike. They 

 are too little known to refer them satis- 

 factorily to their position, although they 

 seem to be allied to Burmanniacece and 

 Xyridacea:. [W. C] 



ACORN. The fruit of the Oak or Quercus 

 family. — , SWEET. The fruit of Quercus 

 Ballota. 



ACORUS. The name of a genus of plants 

 referred by some .to the Aracece, and by 

 others to the Orontiacece. The most interest- 

 ing plant of the genus is Acorus Calamus, 



Acorus Calamus. 



or sweet flag, a plant apparently known 

 to the Greeks, though not to be confounded 

 with the Calamus aromaticus, which, ac- 

 cording to Royle, was a species of grass. 



and the shape of the upper sepal is that The sweet flas? grows in ponds, by the banks 

 of an extinguisher, with a thick rounded I of rivers, and other wet places in England. 



