applied but upon very extraordinary cases, when other anthelmintic medicines have failed, if ever they do 
and even then too by a very skilful hand: and yet, alas ! nothing is scarcely more commonly used by women 
especially in country places, than the decoction, or powder, of this violent vegetable, for the purpose afore- 
said- It has been known to kill several youths, and an old woman also, in three hours 5 time. Others it 
renders heart-sick, even to swooning away ; and if, through mere strength of nature, they overcome its 
violent operation and recover, some have lost the hair and the nails from their fingers and toes; and the 
scarf-skin of the whole body has also peeled off from head to foot thereby — a plain proof of strong poison. 
“I had a most melancholy story from a mother in this city, viz. that a country fellow gave some of this 
plant to his two sons, one of six, the other of four years old, to kill worms ; and that before four in the after- 
noon, they were both corpses. 55 
We again turn to Mr. A. S. Taylor’s book for the following case: — “Mr. J. H. Todd, Coroner for 
Southampton, has kindly forwarded to me the report of an inquiry which took place before him, in Nov. 
1845, in which a child under two years of age was poisoned with an infusion of hellebore, administered to 
it by its grandmother, for the purpose of destroying worms. The leaves of the plant (Bear’s foot) were 
bruised, and boiling water poured over them. Two dessert spoonfuls were given to the child, who had 
been suffering from ague, but from which he had recently recovered. Within ten minutes after taking the 
mixture he was very sick, &c. The matter vomited was of a green colour, and slimy : the sickness, &c. 
continued until the evening, when he died, i. e. about thirteen hours after having taken the mixture. 
There were convulsions before death. On inspection, the whole body appeared blanched ; the eyes were 
sunk, and the pupils dilated. There was diffused inflammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach, 
and a well marked patch of inflammatory redness, about the size of a five-shilling piece, near its centre. 
The small intestines, which contained a brownish-yellow fluid, were much inflamed. The caecum contained 
about thirty worms. The head and chest were not examined. Death was very properly attributed by 
the medical witness to the action of hellebore. 
The woman who prepared the infusion stated that she had frequently given it in large quantities to 
young children, and there were no injurious effects. It is nevertheless to be regarded as an active poison; and 
if persons are not always killed by such worm-medicines, it must be regarded as a very fortunate circum- 
stance. This acrid vegetable never can be given by an ignorant person without great risk. 
Medical Properties and Uses. — The whole plant is acrid, and violently cathartic ; it sometimes 
operates as an emetic, and in large doses is highly deleterious. It is used chiefly as a vermifuge; the dried 
leaves, in powder, are given in ten grains to half a drachm ; but its doses do not appear to have been pre- 
cisely ascertained. The best form for children is a syrup. For this purpose, the bruised leaves are recom- 
mended to be first moistened with a little vinegar, then the juice is expressed from the leaves and made into a 
syrup with coarse sugar. A tea-spoonful is directed to be given at bed-time, and one or two in the morning, for 
two or three successive days, increasing or diminishing the dose according to the strength of the patient. 
In the western counties, according to Dr. Parr, a tincture is sometimes made of the leaves with cyder, and 
said to be a useful preparation. In whatever way, however, it is employed, says this able physician, no 
medicine acts with more certainty than bear’s-foot as an anthelmintic. The root is often used in veterinary 
practice for the rowels for cattle; and if the powder of the leaves be applied to an ulcerated surface, a pro- 
fuse discharge is excited. It is on account of these properties that it is vulgarly called Oxe-heele, Setter- 
wort, Setter-grass, from settering, a term used by farriers, and supposed to be a corruption of setoning. Its 
virtues, as a vermifuge, were known to Gerarde, and it is frequently used as a domestic medicine in York- 
shire; but, in consequence of its violent properties, medical men seldom prescribe it; and it might, with 
great propriety, be expelled the Pharmacopoeia, into which it was introduced at the recommendation of Dr. 
Bisset, who says — 
“ It is by far the most powerful vermifuge for long and round worms of any I have yet experienced. 
The decoction of about a drachm of the green leaves, or about fifteen grains of the dried leaves in powder, 
is the usual dose for children from four to seven years old. A full or sufficient dose generally proves more 
or less emetic. It is usually repeated on two and sometimes three successive mornings : the second dose 
has commonly a greater effect than the first, and never fails to expel round worms if there be any lodged in 
the alimentary canal. 55 
Happily for mankind science is continually enlarging the sphere of our usefulness ; and worms, which 
were formerly considered as the causes of disease, may generally (excepting the taenia) be treated as the con- 
sequences of disordered primee vise, and remedies worse than the malady discarded from practice. Dr. 
Bisset speaks of the plant as also useful in some asthmatic and hypochondriacal affections. Adamson says, 
that an injection of an ounce of the decoction of the roots is preferable to every other remedy in epileptic 
fits, arising from the presence of worms in the intestines. 
This species, H. foetidus, with another the H. viridus has often been employed medicinally instead of 
the true or ancient Greek Hellebore H. officinalis of Sibthorpe and Smith. 
