456 
BOTANY AS APPLIED TO VETERINARY SCIENCE. 
By W. Watson, M.R.C.V.S., Rugby. 
(Continuedfrom p. 148.) 
In my last communication in connection with this subject, 
I brought briefly under notice the chief botanical characters 
of the Aconitum napellus (monkshood). I may here state, in 
passing, that my attention has since been called to a very in¬ 
teresting case in connection with the natural order Ranun- 
cnlacece , by the death of three heifers, caused by the Ranun¬ 
culus ficaria, occurring in the practice of Mr. Flower, of 
Derby, and to which I shall refer more particularly in another 
paper. Before resuming the consideration of the medicinal 
and poisonous properties of aconite, I will just allude to 
another plant, which is commonly called winter aconite. 
Several varieties of ranunculus, such as the R. bulhosus, the 
R. ficaria , have, in different districts of the county, been 
commonly termed winter aconite; but the true plant to which 
this name has been given is the Exanthis hyemalis (winter 
aconite). This plant was introduced into this country from 
Italy, and is cultivated as an ornament to our flower gardens. 
Its pale-yellow flower, appearing from January to March, 
makes it a companion for the snowdrop, and the few other 
flowers which can withstand the severities of our climate at 
this season of the year. The consideration of an agent, the 
effects of which are so powerful upon animal life, as the dif¬ 
ferent preparations of aconite, is well worthy of our most 
careful attention, and should naturally lead us to some 
definite conclusions as to its value as a medicine ; but perhaps 
there is no agent employed by the veterinary surgeon at the 
present day whose real properties are so little understood. 
Having employed it but little, I am unable to give an opinion 
as to its effect, but, judging from the interesting cases re¬ 
corded by others in which it has been used with success, it 
is found that it exerts a powerful influence in a great variety 
of diseases. Thus Mr. Parker, in the Veterinarian for April, 
1861, speaks of it as a specific in cases of spasm in the 
horse. He commences with doses of it\x of the Phar¬ 
macopoeia tincture of aconite in a pint of cold water. He 
says, f£ The sedative effect on the system is almost instanta¬ 
neous; and in cases where the dose is given within an hour of 
the first symptoms of uneasiness, the pain is relieved at 
