66 
HELLEBORUS FCETIDUS. 
sistent, of a pale green colour, their margins usuail)' tinged with 
purple; the stamina are numerous, the filaments the length of the 
petals ; the antherae white ; there are from eight to ten nectaries, 
minute, tubular, and placed in a circle situated within the petals; 
the germens are three, hairy, and .shaped like those of the Hellebo- 
rus Niger, becoming capsules, containing many oval seeds. 
Sensible Qualities, The stipules and leaves of the recent 
plant possess a very bitter acrid taste, and when chewed excite ex- 
coriation of the mouth and fauces ; the smell is very foetid ; by drying, 
the acrid quality of the plant is considerably destroyed ; vinegar is 
also said to render it milder. 
The foetid hellebore, or bear's-foot, is ranked by most Toxicolo- 
gists among the irritating poisons ; and its action on the animal 
economy so nearly resembles that of the strong-scented lettuce and 
black hellebore, already described, that we refer our readers to 
those articles for the treatment of any untoward symptom arising 
from an overdose of this acrid substance.* 
Medical Properties and Uses. The leaves of this plant 
have been long employed in this country, as a domestic medicine to 
expel worms from the alimentary canal. Bisset says, the great 
black hellebore, or bear's-foot, is by far the most powerful vermifuge 
for large round worms of any [ have yet experienced." In some 
partsof Yorkshire, the anthelmintic virtues of this plant are well known, 
and it is in general use among the common people. One drachm 
of the green leaves in decoction, or about fifteen grains of the dried 
leaves in powder, is the usual dose for a child of four or five years 
of age: the juice of the leaves is also made into a syrup; the 
bruised leaves being moistened with vinegar previously to pressing 
out the juice, by which the acrid principle of the plant is corrected, 
and its tendency to induce vomiling, in some degree prevented: one 
tea-spoonful of this syrup at bed-time, and one or two in the morning, 
is the usual dose for children from two to six years. A sufficient dose 
of the dried leaves generally proves more or less emetic, and often acts 
as an aperient; it is usually repeated for two or three successive 
mornings ; the second dose acts more powerfully than the first, and 
never fails to expel round worms if there be any lodged in the ali- 
mentary tube: it is a remedy, however, which should be used with 
caution, being so violent in its operation as to have produced in 
some instances, fatal effects. f 
Off. The Leaves. 
* Vide Vol. i. pp. 39 and 63. 
t Vide Threlkeld's Irish Herbal; and in the Oxford Magazine for March 1769, 
p. 99, fatal cases are related by John Cook, of Oxford. 
