1) A P H N E. 
oQG 
rate ulcers and ill-conditioned fores. Tn France, the 
bark is ufed as an application to the (kin, which under 
certain management, produces a ferous difcharge without 
bliftering ; and is thus rendered ufeftil in chronic cafes 
of a local nature, anfwering tlie purpofe of what is called 
a perpetual blifter, while it occaflons lefs pain and in¬ 
convenience. In our own country, the mezereon has 
been principally employed in fyphilitic cafes, and in this 
way Dr. Donald Monro was the firfl who gave teflimony 
of its efficacy in the fuccefsful life of the Lifb.cn diet- 
drink. Afterwards feveral cafes were published by Dr. 
Ruffel, then phyfician to St. Thomas’s hofpital, fully 
eftabliffiing the utility of the bark of mezereon in vene¬ 
real nodes. In the above cafes, the decodtion of the root 
was made life of; but in fome cafes it has been found 
neceflary to join with it a fulution of fublimate. Dr. 
Cullen fays that Dr. Home not only found the decoCtion 
of mezereon to cure fchirrous tumours which remained 
after the lues venerea, and after the ufe of mercury, but 
that it alfo healed fchirrous tumours from other caufes. 
The confiderable and long-continued heat and irritation 
produced in the throat when mezereon is chewed, in¬ 
duced Dr. Withering to give it in a cafe of difficulty of 
fwallowing, feemingly occafioned by a paralyticaft'edf ion : 
the patient was directed to chew a dice of the-root as 
often as (lie could bear it, and in about a month (lie re¬ 
covered her power of fwallowing: (lie had fuffered the 
above complaint upwards of three years, and was greatly 
reduced, being totally unable to fwallow folids, and li¬ 
quids but very imperfectly. 
There are two principal varieties of the mezereon ; 
©ne with a white flower fucceeded by yellow berries; 
the other with peach-coloured flowers and red fruit : the 
latter has fometimes flowers of a much deeper red. 
There is alfo a variety with variegated leaves. The 
flowers appear in February or March, in mild feafons in 
January. The berries ripen in June, if they are not 
eaten by birds. Villars mentions another variety, with 
the leaves a little villofe, or having (mail hairs at their 
bafe, and the flowers four together. He remarks, that 
the parts of fruCtiftcation are fo perfectly formed, tire 
year before the flowers unfold themfelves, that the cha¬ 
racter may eafily be determined by the naked eye. 
2. Daphne thymela:a : flowers feflile, axillary ; leaves 
lanceolate, (terns very Ample. This rifes to the height 
of three or four feet, with a Angle (talk, covered with a 
light-coloured bark. The flowers come out in cinders 
on the (ides of the flalk, and being of an herbaceous co¬ 
lour make but little appearance : they appear early in 
the fpring, and are fucceeded by fmall berries which are 
yellowiffi when ripe. According to Vahl, it is a low little 
Ihrub, branching only at bottom : the branches are ereCt, 
quite Ample, fmooth and even ; leaves very fmooth, 
ereCt, glaucous ; flowers folitary, fometimes two or even 
three together, (horter than the leaf, dioecous, four-fta- 
mened. Native of Spain, Italy, and the Couth of France ; 
Vahl found it in great abundance on the conflnes of New 
Cafrile towards Navarre. 
3. Daphne pubefcens, or downy mezereon: flowers 
feflile, aggregate, leaveslanceolate-linear, ftem pubelcent. 
It was found in Auflria by Jacquin. 
4. Daphne villofa, or hairy mezereon : flowers feflile, 
folitary; leaves lanceolate, flat, ciliate, hairy, crowded. 
Obferved in Spain and Portugal by Alflroemer. 
5. Daphne tartonraira, or fllvery-leaved daphne, or 
tartonraira : flowers feflile, aggregate, lateral, imbricate 
with fcales at the bafe, leaves obovate, nerved, Alky. 
This is a low fhrubby plant, which fends out feveral 
weak (talks from the root, about a foot long, and fpread- 
ing about irregularly ; thefe feldom become woody in 
England, but are tough and ftringy, covered with a light 
bark : the leaves are fmall, very foft, white and (hining 
like fatin, and At pretty clofe to the (talks; between 
thefe, white flowers come out in thick clulters. They 
2 
are commonly two or three together, very feldom folitary, 
bell-flnaped, Alky on the outAde, but yellowilh within, 
imbricated at the bafe with four or snore ovate, keeled, 
fcales. Native of the foisth of France. Vahl has ano¬ 
ther fpecies which he names daphne,nitida, and which he 
found on the calcareous mountains of Tunis. It has the 
appearance of the tartonraira, but the leaves are only 
one-Axth of the Aze, and nervelefs ; there are no fcales 
at the bafe of the calyx ; and the branches are rough, 
but not fquarrofe with the permanent floral fcales. 
6. Daphne alpina, or alpine daphne: flowers feflile, 
aggregate ; leaves lanceolate, obtufllh., tomentofe under¬ 
neath. This rifes about three feet high ; the flowers 
come out in clufters from the Aides of the branches early 
in the fpring, and are fucceeded by fmall roundifli ber¬ 
ries, which turn red when ripe. jThe root Axes itfelf 
deeply in the crevices of rocks. The little Hems are 
fhrubby and upright, fcarcely a palm in height, as it 
were brachiate, leafy and flowering at the top ; leaves 
lanceolate or obovate, ufually emarginate, hoary with 
hairs when viewed with a glafs, as are alfo the calyxes 
and fruits. The younger leaves appear hirfute to the 
naked eye, but afterwards appear bald unlefs to the mag- 
nifler. Native of the fouth of France, the mountains 
near Geneva, Auflria, and Italy. 
7. Daphne laureola, or fpurge laurel: racemes axil¬ 
lary, Ave-flowered ; leaves lanceolate, fmooth. This is 
a low evergreen thrills, riAng with feveral (talks to the 
height of two or three feet, dividing at top into feveral 
branches. The leaves come out irregularly on every 
fide, At pretty clofe to the branches, are thick, fmooth, 
and of a lucid green. Among thefe, towards the upper 
part of the (talks, come out the flowers in fmall clufters; 
they are of a yellowifh green, and appear foon after 
Chriftmas, if the feafon be not very fevere. They are 
fucceeded by oval berries, which are green till June, 
when they ripen and turn black, foon after which they 
fall oft’. Native of Britain, France, Swiflerland, Auflria, 
and Carniola ; Gerarde did not know that it grows wild 
in England, although it is common enough with 11s in 
woods and hedges. Notwithftanding Linnaeus’s cenfure, 
the fpurge-laurel is a ihrub of fome value, on account 
of the lucid green of the leaves, which continuing all 
the year, render it ornamental in winter; but particu¬ 
larly becaufe it flourithes under trees, and is therefore 
very proper to All up fpaces in plantations. Very happy 
effeCts are faid to have been fometimes experienced from 
this plant in rheumatic fevers: it operates as a bri(k and 
rather fevere purgative : it is an efficacious medicine in 
worm cafes; but on account of its acrimonious nature, 
it lhould be ufed by fkilful practitioners. The whole 
plant has the (ante qualities, but the bark of the root is 
the (trongeft. Dr. Alfton Axes the outAde dofes at ten 
grains. Some other fpecies of this genus are poflefled of 
nearly Amilar powers with the mezereon and the fpurge- 
laurel, and are ufed in Amilar cafes, but, like the former, 
yequire caution in their ufe, and (liould not be trufted to 
inexperienced hands. 
8. Daphne Pontica, or Pontus fpurge-laurel: pedun¬ 
cles two-flowered ; leaves lanceolate-ovate. Stem about 
two feet high, branched fometimes from the very bot¬ 
tom, about three lines in thicknefs, very pliable, covered 
with a grey bark; leaves towards the top without order, 
of the figure and confidence of thofe of the lemon, the 
largeft four inches long and two wide, pointed at each 
end ; fmooth, bright, green, and (hining, having a thick 
midrib underneath. At the end of April young (hoots 
terminated by new leaves pufli from the extremities of 
the (terns and branches, among which fpring the flowers 
commonly in pairs ; the corolla is of a greenifh yellow, 
inclining to lemon colour ; it hasafweetiffi frnell, which 
is foon loft. Native of Pontus, ftrft obferved there by 
Tournefort; alfo in Siberia, by Guldenftadt; flowering 
in autumn. 
9. Daphne 
