Am.  Jour.  Pharm.) 
January,  1910.  ( 
The  American  Materia  Me  die  a. 
9 
My  ingenious  pupil,  Dr.  Thomas  Walmsley,  has  lately  communicated  to 
me  an  additional  instance  of  the  salivating  power  of  this  active  vegetable. 
He  questions  the  power  of  datura  in  overcoming  so  virulent  a 
disease  as  tetanus,  as  follows : 
I  fear  that  our  vegetable,  though  by  no  means  a  feeble  one,  will  be 
found  unequal  to  the  cure  of  this  terrible  disease.  • 
In  this  sentence  he  unconsciously  voices  the  transplanted  idea  of 
mediaeval  medicine,  to  the  effect  that  severe  diseases  require  heroic 
treatment.2 
Among  emetics,  sanguinaria  is  conspicuous.  The  doctor  be- 
lieves by  reason  of  the  acrid  nature  of  the  Indian  turnip,  that  it 
deserves  careful  investigation  concerning  its  promising  therapeutical 
qualities. 
Among  stimulants,  the  poisonous  side  of  plants  is  the  subject  of 
hopefulness.    For  example : 
I  have  no  hesitation  in  referring  to  a  number  of  poisonous  vegetables, 
with  the  properties  of  which  we  are  not  so  well  acquainted  as  we  ought  to 
be.  Such  are  the  Datura  Stramonium,  or  Jamestown  weed,  the  Cicuta  mac- 
ulata,  &c. 
Concerning  Cicuta  venenosa,  a  fearful  poison  which  kills  as  he 
states,  "  without  inducing  pain  or  convulsion,"  he  adds  that  perhaps 
it  is  "  the  plant  with  which  some  of  our  Indians  destroy  themselves. " 
He  adds  that  it  should  be  used  with  great  care,  concluding  as  follows : 
1  have  given  the  powder  of  this  plant  internally  in  a  case  of  fever,  and 
have  thus,  at  least,  ascertained  that  it  may  be  used  with  safety. 
Happily,  among  stimulants  are  included  a  few  innocuous  plants, 
gaultheria,  sassafras,  spicewood,  ginseng,  and  eryngium. 
Not  less  energetic  are  the  topical  stimulants,  among  which,  in 
addition  to  the  acrid  crowfoot,  the  cathartic  butternut  and  a  few 
other  items  are  included  as  follows  : 
To  this  head  of  topical  stimulants,  I  may  refer  several  species  of  the 
genus  Rhus,  or  Sumac;  particularly  the  Rhus  radicans,  or  poison  vine;  the 
Rhus  vernix,  or  Vernice  tree;  and  the  Rhus  toxicodendron,  or  poison  oak. 
2  Let  it  not  be  forgotten  that  the  European  herbalists  were  not  poisoners. 
They  perhaps  erred  in  the  direction  of  credence  in  innocuous  plants  of  no 
established  value. 
