NAT. ORDER. LOBELIACE^. 
65 
the revolutionary war, as a substitute for tea. It is also highly 
recommended as a local application in apthous affections of the 
mouth and fauces, and in the sore throat of scarlatina, and as 
an internal remedy in dysentery, for which a strong decoction 
should be made of the dried leaves and seeds. We owe some 
portion of this description to Sir W. Johnson, who received it 
from the Indians of this country. The author would also oeg^ 
leave to state a fact which has come under his own observation, 
and of which he has been a daily witness, fully sustaining its high 
reputation, not only for the cure of ulcers, tumors and scrofulous 
affections, but in the treatment of cancers of the most obstinate 
character. 
In the month of March last. Miss Vanriper, from the central 
part of New Jersey, called upon me for advice in regard to a can- 
cer which was located upon her left breast. After making the 
necessary examination, I found it to be of the scirrhus kind ; the 
tumor had extended over the whole breast, and was then very 
painful. The puckering of the skin, the dull leaden color of the 
integuments, the knotted and uneven surface, the occasional dart- 
ing pains in the part, its fixed attachment to the skin above, and 
muscles beneath, and in the breast, the retracted state of the 
nipple, accompanied with declining health, and a peculiar sallow 
complexion, formed so striking an assemblage of symptoms, that 
there could not be the smallest doubt, that the tumor was a true 
scirrhus. 
The encouragement which I gave of effecting a cure without, 
extirpation, was but little, nor should I have attempted it under 
any circumstances, especially, at this stage of the disease, had I 
not previously become acquainted with the valuable properties of 
this species of lobelia, in the treatment of scrofula, tumors, cancers, 
eruptions of the skin, &c. I have administered it in many cases, 
and never failed of making a cure, unless in the cancer, where it 
was very far advanced, and the vital powers o^ life exhausted. In 
