September 2 , 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
340 
M W 
D ! D 
SEPTEMBER 2—8, 1852. 
Weather near London in 1851. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R. & S. 
Moon’s Clock 
Age. bef. Sun. 
Day of 
Year. 
Barometer. 
Thermo. 
Wind. 
Rain in In. 
2 Tn 
3 F 
4 8 
5 Sun 
6 M 
7 Tu 
8 W 
Berberries ripe. 
Meadow Saffron flowers. 
Grapes ripen. 
13 Sunday after Trinity. 
Flycatcher last seen. 
30.093 — 30.007 
30.127 — 30.072 
30.049 — 30.029 
30.209 — 30.151 
30.373 — 30.290 
30.448— 30.430 
30.498 — 30.465 
73—59 
"2—51 
69—46 
67-49 
63—44 
66—48 
62—42 
N.W. 
N.E. 
N. 
N. 
N.E. 
E. 
N.E. 
01 
16 a. 5 
18 
19 
21 
23 
24 
26 
43 a. 6 
41 
38 
36 
34 
32 
29 
8 33 
8 50 
9 9 
9 33 
10 4 
10 41 
11 29 
18 
19 
20 
21 
€ 
23 
24 
0 35 
0 54 
1 14 
1 33 
1 53 
2 13 
2 34 
246 
247 
248 
249 
250 
251 
252 
Meteorology of the Week.— At Chiswick, from observations during the last twenty-five years, the average highest and lowest tempera- 
tiires ot these days are 69 . 6 ° and 48.1° respectively. The greatest heat, 82°, occurred on the 2nd in 1843 : and the lowest cold, 30°, on the 4th 
m 1850, During the period 98 days were fine, and on 77 rain fell. 
BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
CROWFOOTS—RANUN CUXACEJE. 
{Continued from page 313.) 
ACONITUM. WOLFSBANE. 
Generic Character— Calyx none. Petals five, below 
seed-vessel, unequal, four of them in pairs, opposite ; the 
upper one hooded, or tubular, inverted, the convex or hind 
part being uppermost, the bent down point curved back; 
two lateral ones roundish, opposite, approaching each other; 
two lowermost oblong, bent down. Nectaries two, within the 
hollow of the uppermost petal, on long awl-shaped stalks, 
tubular, drooping, oblique at the orifice, curved back at the 
honey bag behind. Stamens numerous, broad at the base, 
awl-shaped, short, directed towards the upper petal, some of 
the innermost filaments often swollen and abortive. Anthers 
roundish, small, erect. Germens three, four, or five, oblong. 
Styles terminal, awl-shaped, spreading. Stigmas simple, 
pointed. Seed-vessels {follicles), as many as the germens, 
straight, long egg-shaped, of one valve, bursting at the 
inner side. Seeds numerous, angular, rugged, at the edges 
of the capsule. 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS. DELPHINIUM CONSOL1DA. 
(Delphinium consolida. This should have been inserted at page 
313, instead of the one there given by mistake.) 
Aconitum napellus: Common Wolf’s bane; Monk’s- ! 
hood ; Friars Caps. 
Description. —It is a perennial. Root tuberous, tapering, 
simple, woody. Stem erect, firm, unbranched, hairy, leafy, 
eighteen inches high, ending in a large, upright spike of 
flowers. Leaves alternate, blackish-green, but paler beneath, 
shining, stiff, short-stalked, three-lobed down to the leaf¬ 
stalk; side lobes deeply two-cleft; middle lobe three cleft; 
each division of each lobe pointedly and unequally three- 
cleft. Flowers dark blue, each on a separate, short stalk; 
upper-petal arched at the back, lateral petals hairy within. 
Germens three, smooth. Bracte undivided. 
There are two or three varieties with white, rose-coloured, 
and variegated flowers. 
Places where found .—In watery places ; rare. 
Time of flowering. —June and July. 
History .—The name of Aconite is said by Theophrastus 
to be derived from Akonis, a city of Bithynia, near which the 
earliest noted species grew; and napellus has reference, 
perhaps, to its root, for napellus means a root like that of 
the rape. By the ancients it was considered the most 
powerful of poisons, and they expressed their detestation of 
it by fabling that it was the invention of Hecate, and formed 
from the foam of Cerberus, the watcli-dog of hell. It is 
certainly a most virulent poison, and is not a plant that 
should be grown where children and ignorant people 
frequent. Smelling strongly at the fully expanded flowers, 
has caused swooning and loss of sight for two or three days; 
the leaves eaten instead of celery in a salad, have caused 
madness and death; the young shoots have proved equally 
fatal, being mistaken for the shoots of Masterwort; but the 
root is the most poisonous of all the parts of the plant, one 
drachm of it given to a condemned criminal in Germany 
caused his speedy death ; and five persons at Antwerp, who 
eat of it mistakenly, all died. Like all violent poisons, when 
administered judiciously it is found to be remedial for many 
diseases of the human frame. Baron Stoerck led the way 
by administering it in violent pains of the sides and joints, 
in glandulous tumours, and other troublesome disorders. 
He gave from ten to thirty grain doses of its extract. In 
Sweden, doses of from one grain to a scruple of an extract 
of the juices of the leaves have been given twice or oftener 
per day, in cases of rheumatism and intermittent fevers. 
The chief benefits derived from it have been in cases of 
rheumatic and other chronic disorders. The varieties with 
blue flowers appear to be more powerful than those of 
which the flowers are yellow or white. "When dried, the 
acrimony of the leaves is said to be almost entirely destroyed ; 
at all events, horses then eat it without injury. It is fatal 
even to goats when they eat it green. Dr. Duncan gives 
very excellent directions for the preparation of medicines 
from this plant in his New Edinburgh Dispensatory. The 
virulence of the plant seems to reside in a vegetable alkali 
to which the name of Aconitina has been given. (Smith. 
\ Martyn. Duncan.) 
As long since as February {vol. vii. 314), after giving a 
history of the Gooseberry, and a list of the most success¬ 
ful prize-winning varieties, we promised to add some 
further comments. Time lias passed insensibly along, 
various subjects have pressed upon us for attention, and 
wc are now only reminded of the subject by receiving a 
box of Lancashire prize gooseberries; and seeing in 
them a full justification of the late Dr. Neill’s remark, 
No. CCV., Vol. VIII. 
