NAT. ORDER. THYMELACE^. 
97 
employed it in several cutaneous affections, and very often w^ith 
success." 
The great burning and continued heat and irritation that is 
produced in the throat vv^hen mezereon is chewed, induced Dr. 
Withering to think of giving it in a case of difficulty of swallow- 
ing, seemingly occasioned by a paralytic affection. The patient 
was directed to chew a thin slice of the root as often as she could 
bear it, and in about a month recovered her power of swallowing. 
This woman had been a gi-eat sufferer from her complaint, for 
about three years, and was greatly reduced, being totally unable 
to swallow solids the whole time, and liquids but very imperfectly. 
Mezereon, in its recent state, is an active poison, and should 
be given with great care, if given at all. A case is related to us 
from undoubted authority, of a woman who gave twelve grains of 
the berries to her daughter, who had the fever-ague. She vomited 
blood, and died immediately. As the acrimony of these berries 
is not immediately perceived upon being tasted, the ignorant and 
unwary are the more easily betrayed to swallow them. 
As some may wish to try this plant in their practice, which is 
as yet unknown to most physicians in this country, and promises 
beneficial effects in several complaints, we shall briefly recite the 
usual mode in which it has been conducted. 
A square piece of the fresh-gathered bark, about the size of 
a penny, macerated a little in vinegar, is applied to the skin, over 
which is bound a leaf of ivy or plantain. This application is at 
first renewed night and morning, till it cauterizes the part, and 
brings on a serous discharge, when a renewal of the bark once in 
twenty-four hours is found sufficient to continue the issue for any 
length of time. By means of suitable plasters, it is thought by 
some physicians, it might prove valuable if applied behind the 
ears to reheve the eyes ; and on a larger scale prove useful in 
practice in sundry diseases. It must be observed, however, that 
it sometimes produces cutaneous eruptions, which is attributed to 
