18 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION.— October 14, 1856. 
It will bear a moderate degree of exposure, although, 
like most others of the genus, it prefers shade, attain¬ 
ing greater magnitude according to the degree of shade 
it is grown under; but, whichever situation it may 
occupy, a good supply of water will be necessary. 
It is a Fern that will make itself at home under 
ordinary attention, and may bo very confidently trusted 
to repay its cultivator with the expansion of its noble 
fronds for much less care and trouble than is necessary 
for many of the British Ferns. It is also a very nice- ; 
looking plant when cultivated in pots, which may be 
easily dono. The principal points are, a good supply of 
water and good drainage, with allowance of space for j 
the roots as the plant increases in size. A compost of j 
equal parts loam and peat, with an admixture of sand 
sufficient to keep the soil open, will meet its wishes in j 
any situation. Let it be potted rather firmly, but not I 
hardly. The propagation is as directed for former ] 
species, by division or by its fructification. 
NATURAL iff STORY -OF THE R AN U N C U L A CE rE. j 
{Continued from page 2.) 
The Anemones possess very nearly the same proper¬ 
ties as the Ranunculea). A. pulsatilla, and, indeed, all 
the other species of Anemone, are extremely acrid in all 
their parts. It causes, when applied externally or intro¬ 
duced into the stomach, all the effects of acrid and corro¬ 
sive substances, as violent inflammation, and a stupe¬ 
fying action on the nervous system. It furnishes a 
popular medicine among the hornoeopathists under the 
name of Pulsatilla ; and the distilled water causes 
vomiting. The juice of the petals stains paper a green 
colour. A.juatcnsis when chewed corrodes the tongue, 
and is also said to contain a camphoraceous matter, 
which is obtained in the form of crystals, very acrid and 
very inflammable. The Hepatica is considered simply j 
as an astringent. The roots of Thaliotrum Jiavam dye , 
wool yellow ; the leaves raise blisters on the skiu ; and 
in Buckinghamshire the peasantry boil the root and : 
tops in ale, which being drank acts as a strong purga- ! 
live. The roots of Hydrastes Canadensis are intensely 
bitter, and said to possess tonic qualities; and they 
yield a beautiful dye, whence the plant is called by the j 
Canadians Yellow Root. Knowltonia vesicatoria is re- j 
markable for its blistering properties. 
Of the Ranunculea, li. bulbosus, acris, sceleratus, j 
Jlanimula, auricomus, thora, arvensis, and many others, ; 
have very powerful acrid properties; and their fruits, 
when green, appear to be the parts in which this acridity 
is most intense. If the fresh-bruised leaves are applied 
to any part of the body a more or less active inflamma¬ 
tion will soon appear, followed with hard swellings, 
which will speedily become a true blister. Recourse 
may, therefore, be had to these plants, as is the case in 
Norway and the Highlands of Scotland, when Cantha- 
rides cannot be obtained, or when the irritant action of 
these on tender parts would be injurious. Taken inter- 
naily, the juice or extract of R. acris causes a very in¬ 
tense inflammation of the digestive orgaus, and if the 
dose has been considerable, it is a true acrid poison, fol¬ 
lowed by very serious results, and even death. The 
juice of R. bulbosus applied to the nostrils causes sneez¬ 
ing, and a portion of the root lias been found to act 
beneficially on the gum of an aching tooth. Haller 
informs us that the Swiss hunters chew R. alpestris as a 
restorative after fatigue, and as an antidote to giddiness; 
and Withering states that in the case of poison having 
been taken, R. flammula, which produces instantaneous 
vomiting, is preferable to any medicine. With the juice of 
R. thora the Swiss hunters were wont, formerly, to 
poison their darts, by means of which the wounds in¬ 
flicted on wild beasts were speedily fatal and incurable. 
The distilled water of R. sceleratus is eminently acrid, 
and, when cold, deposits crystals which have been found 
to be utterly insoluble, and of an inflammable nature; 
yet, notwithstanding its poisonous properties, it is eaten 
when cooked by the shepherds of Wallachia. R. aqua- 
tilis forms an exception to all those just mentioned, 
having been found to be not only innoxious, but nutri¬ 
tious to cattle. Dr. Pulteney says that in the neighbour¬ 
hood of Ivingswood, on the borders of the Avon, cot¬ 
tagers support their cattle almost entirely on this plant. 
They collect a quautity every morning, and bring it in a 
boat to the edge of the water, where the cows eat it with 
great avidity. One man kept four cows and one horse 
so much upon it that they had not consumed more than 
half a ton of hay throughout the whole year. There is 
no doubt that the continued immersion in the water is 
the cause, as we have already stated, of the destruction 
of the acrid principle in this plant. Ficaria ranuncu- 
loules is also less acrid than some of the others; but 
although, as we have said, its leaves are used as a pot¬ 
herb when cooked, yet its roots are acrid and bitter, and 
have been recommended as a cure for piles. 
Of the whole family the Helleborea appear to 
possess the most powerfully poisonous properties. In 
all its parts, but particularly in its leaves and roots, the 
Aconitum napellus, or Common Monkshood, is found ex¬ 
tremely acrid. Placed in contact with the tongue any 
portion of them excites a painful feeling of smarting, and 
a very considerable secretion in the salivary glands. The 
great number of accidents caused by the careless use of 
the root of Monkshood sufficiently indicate its deleterious 
action ; and M. Orfila, after a great number of experi¬ 
ments, came to the conclusion, that the juice of the 
leaves introduced into the stomach, the rectum, or the 
cellular tissue, caused serious injury, followed by 
speedy death. The root acts with still greater effect. The 
aqueous extract prepared with the expressed juice of 
fresh leaves, and particularly the alcoholic extract, acted 
with the same poisonous properties. These different 
preparations are absorbed, act on the nervous system, 
and in particular on the bfaiu, causing a sort of mental 
alienation, besides inducing a local irritation in the 
organs to which they have been applied. Instances are 
known where persons having taken the effluvia of the 
plant in full flower by the nostrils have been seized 
with swooning fits, and have lost their sight for three or 
four days. In Sweden a decoction or powder of the 
root of A. lycoctonum is used for destroying flies and 
other insects; and in Medelpadia Linnaeus says the 
roots are eaten without injury. The acrid principle 
which is found in the Monkshoods was discovered by 
M. Brandes to be an alkali, which has been named 
Aconitina or Aconitine. In the hands of the skilful 
practitioner Aconitine has been advantageously em¬ 
ployed, administered internally, in chronic rheumatism, 
gout, exostosis, paralysis, amaurosis, scrofula, cancer, 
intermittents, venereal nodes, and itch. The juice of 
Caltlia palustris, or Marsh Marigold, boiled with alum, 
stains paper yellow; and Boerhaave says, that if kine 
eat the plant it occasions such an inflammation that 
they generally die. In some parts of Germany the young 
buds are pickled, and sold as capers. Withering states, 
in support of the opinion that gaseous exhalations from 
plants during night are often fatally mephitic, that on a 
large quantity of the flow-er of Marsh Marigold being 
put into the bedroom of a girl who had been subject to 
fits, the fits ceased. The root of C. Bisma is truly 
poisonous, and is used by the inhabitants of Nepaul, near 
the river Kosi, to poison their darts ; and they regard it 
I 
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